Textron nets $15.3M contract extension to refurbish trainer planes for Iraq

April 10 (UPI) -- Textron Aviation Defense LLC was awarded a $15.3 million contract modification by the U.S. Air Force to reconstitute 15 T-6A training planes in Iraq.

The contract notes a schedule extension to a previously awarded contract, to July 31, for rebuilding the planes and installing cartridge-activated and propellant-activated devices.

Work by the company, based in Wichita, Kan., will be completed at Imam Air Base, Iraq. The modification is regarded as a foreign sale, to Iraq, the Defense Department said on Tuesday.

The plane is a joint primary aircraft training system, or a military training plane. A civilian version of the single-engine plane is known as Hawker Beechcraft Texan II. Hawker Beechcraft was bought by Textron in 2013.

The Iraqi Air Force bought its first eight T-6A trainers in August 2009 to replace its fleet of Cessna 172 Skyhawks and Cessna 208 Caravans. The plane is used by the U.S. Air Force for basic pilot training and Combat Systems Officer training, by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps for primary and intermediate Naval Flight Officer training, and by the air forces of Greece, Canada, Israel and Iraq.

A variant, the T-6C, is used as a trainer by the Moroccan, Mexican, British and New Zealand air forces.