Hawker Beechcraft‘s [HBC] Beechcraft AT-6 Light Attack and Armed Reconnaissance (LAAR) offering for the Air Force last week concluded an Operational Assessment (OA) at Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Ariz.
Air Force and Air National Guard pilots participated in the activity, which was conducted Sept. 28-Oct. 15 at Davis-Monthan’s Snowbird facility.
“The assessment not only allows us to showcase the capabilities of the aircraft, but it also helps us gather feedback from the pilots,” said Jim Maslowski, president of the company’s U.S. and International Government Business division. “With the capabilities of this aircraft, it comes as no surprise that the initial responses from the pilots were overwhelmingly positive.”
Assessor pilots participated in classroom and cockpit ground training, and in preparatory and evaluation flights. In the coming weeks, pilots will submit written evaluations of the aircraft’s performance.
This week, the AT-6 is on display at the Air National Guard/Air Force Reserve Command Weapons and Tactics Conference in Tucson, the company said in a press release. Following the conference, weapons testing will be conducted Oct. 25-29 at the Barry M. Goldwater Range near Gila Bend, Ariz. The plan is to have the AT-6 drop 25-pound BDU-33 and 500-pound BDU-50 training rounds during the sessions.
The AT-6 is based in large part on the Beechcraft T-6 A/B Texan trainer aircraft. Designed to provide close air support and meet the demands of the irregular warfare environment, the AT-6 is outfitted with a more powerful engine than the Texan, a variety of self-protection mechanisms, multiple secure communications functions and advanced surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.