Got to wonder if the close proximity of the two orders is a coincidence, or a common specification and production line...
Iraqi Air Force orders King Air sensors
June 11, 2007
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) was awarded a contract to provide an initial lot of five integrated ISR sensor suites for Beechcraft King Air 350ER twin turboprop aircraft ordered by the new Iraqi Air Force.
The contract, which could be worth as much as $53 million, will see five aircraft equipped with GA-ASI Lynx IIE SAR/GMTI radar, an L-3 Communications/Wescam MX-15i electro-optical/infrared camera system, and CLAW sensor control and analysis software provided by Exclusive Charter Services of San Diego, Calif.
Linden Blue, president of GA-ASI’s reconnaissance systems unit, said the equipment integrates the sensors with an operator console station able to collect, format and display information. Imagery and other intelligence products can then be sent via airborne data link to ground stations.
Working through the U.S. Air Force’s Aeronautical Systems center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, Iraq’s nascent defense ministry ordered six new King Air 350ERs — five for ISR and one for light transport — in March. Completion of the aircraft is slated for April 2008.