Integrated Surveillance and Reconnaissance Solution Debut
Opening day at the
Paris Air Show is full of exciting announcments... such as
Raytheon's announcing another step in the Beechcraft King Air line
with the introduction of the Beechcraft King Air 350ER - the latest
in a line of proven special mission aircraft.
A derivative of the successful Beechcraft King Air 350, the
Beechcraft King Air 350ER (civvie versions shown below) provides
extended range (ER) through the addition of nacelle fuel tanks,
along with an increase in gross weight from 15,000 lbs to 16,500
lbs, plus the incorporation of heavy-weight landing gear. These
enhancements provide the Beechcraft King Air 350ER with over eight
hours of endurance, and the flexibility to loiter low and slow, or
cruise at 300 knots and 35,000 feet.
Taking off at gross weight with full fuel and full payload, the
Beechcraft King Air 350ER can fly out 100 nautical miles, perform a
low altitude surveillance mission for 7 hours and 20 minutes, fly
back 100 nautical miles, and still land with over 45 minutes of
fuel on board. No other aircraft in its class can come close to
this performance.
Raytheon Aircraft Company also has the unique ability to draw
upon the strengths of other businesses of Raytheon Company to
provide customers with a high technology, cost-effective
"one-company" solution for their special mission needs. Raytheon's
Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) business has teamed with Raytheon
Aircraft Company and Raytheon Technical Services Company to debut
an integrated surveillance and reconnaissance solution using the
Beechcraft King Air 350ER as the airborne platform. This
"one-company" offering provides a complete, ready-to-use overland
or maritime surveillance mission solution through integration of
the HISAR or SeaVue radar systems.
"Whether the mission is patrolling economic exclusion zones,
conducting maritime search and rescue activities, or providing
overland surveillance, the Beechcraft King Air 350ER provides
proven reliability and unparalleled cost-effectiveness over a wide
variety of military and civilian special missions," said John
Brauneis, vice president, contracts and special mission business,
Raytheon Aircraft Company.
"From platform to sensors to total service and support, this
integrated surveillance and reconnaissance solution is a "tip to
tail" single-company offering that assures customer mission success
and delivers dependable mission support," said Brad Hopper,
business development manager, Space and Airborne Systems, Raytheon
Company.
Special mission customers will benefit from Raytheon Aircraft
Company's extensive support infrastructure that includes more than
100 factory owned and factory authorized service centers. Expanding
international markets show the need for special mission aircraft
for a variety of purposes such as, homeland security, maritime and
overland surveillance, reconnaissance, and disaster relief.
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.15.24)
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