Raytheon Sees New HUD as the Key to Widespread T-6A Trainer Success
Raytheon sees a new head-up display for its T-6A Texan II primary
trainer as the key to expanding the aircraft's market beyond its
existing customers. More than 180 of the aircraft have been sold
to the United States (another 600 or more expected), NATO and
Greece, and all but a few of them delivered.
"It is our belief that the expanded footprint will be desired
by the international community," says Raytheon government
sales VP Sherry Grady. A T-6A is on display here at Le Bourget.
The HUD is seen as extending the effective training curriculum
of the T-6A from about 89 hours to as many as 150 or 155. It will
allow countries lacking the intermediate training capabilities
of the U.S. to take advantage of the turboprop single's low operating
costs deeper into the development of each individual pilot, says
Pat Farley, Raytheon business development manager for trainer
aircraft. "It's far less expensive to train a student"
in the T-6A, he explains, as direct operating cost is about a
third that of a jet trainer.
Countries where there will likely be a "confluence of need
and budget" in coming years, Farley says, include Turkey,
Singapore, Israel, Bulgaria and the UK for its military flying
training system (MFTS) requirement.
He cautions though, that with trainer offerings from Embraer in
Brazil, Pilatus in Switzerland and Korean Aircraft Industries,
writing additional T-6A sales "will be extremely competitive."
The HUD could also lead to increased sales of the T-6A in the
U.S. as a special mission craft, over and above the expected 700
to 800 trainers to be placed with the American armed forced through
2017, Grady says.
Raytheon has teamed with Canada's CMC Electronics for the new
T-6A cockpit. Besides the Flight Visions SparrowHawk HUD, CMC
will supply its FV-4000 modular mission display processor and
multifunction displays. A Critical Design Review is expected in
the first quarter of 2004, and a flight demonstrator to be ready
later in the year, says Raytheon's Grady.
The HUD would also figure in a T-6B attack derivative, which would
include hardpoints for armaments ordered by Greece. The Greek
air force has taken delivery of 39 of its 45 T-6A trainers, with
the final 20 fitted as weapons trainers, each with six hardpoints
for munitions attachment. Kits will be provided for retrofit of
the first 25 aircraft for munitions too, Grady says.
Raytheon has delivered 166 T-6A trainers, developed under the
U.S. JPATS (Joint Primary Aircraft Training System) requirement,
to American services replacing the Air Force's Cessna T-37 jet
and the Navy's Beech T-34C turboprop trainers. The Bombardier-run
NATO training program in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan has taken delivery
of 26 T-6As-known locally as CT-156 Harvard IIs- equipped with
special prop de-icers.
Grady says that although the T-6A is based on the Pilatus PC-9,
the U.S. government's JPATS specifications were extremely challenging,
including a high degree of bird strike resistance and a requirement
that the aircraft accommodate students ranging from a diminutive
five feet in height weighing a mere 100 pounds, to bruisers six
feet four inches tall weighing 250 pounds.
"We have gotten very high accolades from the services,"
the Raytheon VP told Show News. With the T-6A, she says, "They
have had less attrition and believe that they are receiving a
higher quality student at the end of training."
