Beechcraft Defense Company, LLC, a subsidiary of Textron Aviation Inc., announced it has signed a contract with Affinity Flying Training Services to provide 10 Beechcraft T-6C Texan II military training aircraft to the UK Ministry of Defence’s Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) programme.

A second contract has also been signed to include five years of engineering services, parts support, maintenance training and the placement of on-site Field Service Representatives who provide ongoing technical expertise to UKMFTS maintenance personnel.

With deliveries beginning in the first quarter of 2018, these aircraft will support Team Affinity, a joint venture between Elbit Systems and KBR (Kellogg, Brown and Root), who was selected as the preferred bidder to provide aircraft and maintenance services to the UKMFTS programme.

The T-6C trainers will replace Shorts Tucano T1 aircraft and join the fleet of Beechcraft King Air 350ER turboprops, which are already providing live and synthetic radar training for Royal Navy observers as part of the UK MFTS Rear Crew Training programme.