Beechcraft looks to secure AT-6B launch customer
The Beechcraft AT-6B Texan II light attack turboprop is being displayed at this year's Singapore Airshow, as the company looks to secure its first customer following the disappointment of losing out in the US Air Force's (USAF's) Light Air Support (LAS) programme.
The tandem twin-seat turboprop will feature in the static display line-up at this year's event, taking place from 11 to 16 February, as Beechcraft looks to kick-start a global sales campaign that appeared to stall in 2013 with USAF's selection of the Embraer-314 Super Tucano to fulfil its LAS requirement for 20 light strike aircraft for Afghanistan.
Derived from the T-6 Texan II trainer aircraft, the armed AT-6 variant is being offered to those users who are looking to augment their current fast jet and attack helicopter fleets with a cost-effective, yet capable, alternative. As with other aircraft in this class - such as the Super Tucano, Air Tractor AT-802U, IOMAX Archangel, KAI KT-1, Utva Kobats (Sparrowhawk), and even the newly revealed jet-powered Cessna Scorpion - the AT-6 offers excellent capability, while costing a fraction of the operation cost of fast jets, and being easier than helicopters to maintain.
Speaking at the IQPC Air Power in Irregular Warfare conference in London in 2012, Tom Tyson, a former USAF F-15C Eagle pilot and now director of US Programs Business Development at Beechcraft, noted that the light strike turboprop has advantages over other forms of 'kinetic air' in terms of procurement costs (some analysts quote the price of a single F-35 Lightning II as being the same as 90 turboprops), operating costs (in terms of fuel and infrastructure), persistence, sustainability, and responsiveness.
Whereas the survivability of such aircraft has often been raised by their detractors, Tyson noted that turboprops operate in the same 'low and slow' environment as attack helicopters, and can be fitted with the same defensive aids and other countermeasures to offset such risks.
Even so, this class of aircraft does have its drawbacks when compared with fast jets. Most notable of these is the speed factor. A senior UK Royal Air Force (RAF) officer with experience of operations in Afghanistan, explained to IHS Jane's : "Time matters and there is still a need for speed. The number of turboprop squadrons that would be required to respond rapidly anywhere in Afghanistan and to provide the same assured response time [would be prohibitive]. If you start with your turboprop at one end of Afghanistan, and you start with a fast jet [at the same time], the fast jet would have reached the far border before the turboprop has even got a third of the way into the country. That's the relative difference in the speeds."
Further to this, their lack of utility in an air defence role means turboprops are not really an option for those countries struggling with shrinking budgets. "I'm sure that if we had all the money in the world then this is a capability that you would like to have as one of your golf clubs, but you have to make choices and a country like ourselves [has to balance] what has a utility in Afghanistan and what has a broader utility," the same RAF officer told IHS Jane's .
The AT-6's appearance at Singapore may be linked in no small part to the fact that the Asia-Pacific region is one of the parts of the world where defence budgets are actually rising, so allowing operators to broaden their capabilities. Unfortunately for Beechcraft, however, most of those regional nations with such a light strike requirement have already committed to another aircraft type (Super Tucano for Afghanistan and Indonesia), leaving sales opportunities somewhat limited. Even so, with Thailand and the Philippines looking to replace ageing airframes in the same light attack class of aircraft, there is still scope for Beechcraft to kick-start its AT-6 sales campaign with a regional signature.
(Jane's)
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