I am going to attach a letter from Bill Boisture of Hawker Beechcraft asking for some help to convince the US Government to do the right thing concerning a contract for trainer aircraft. See his letter below and I appreciate your consideration for contacting your representatives.
Signed,
Rick Pitts
The U.S. Air Force has made a fundamentally FLAWED DECISION to
award the Light Air Support (LAS) contract to the Brazilian-made Embraer EMB
314 Super Tucano. The 314 costs over 25% more, and it does less in the
mission environment than the U.S.-made Beechcraft AT-6.
This is a billion dollar contract award starting with 20 aircraft,
but giving the USAF authority to buy up to roughly 60 aircraft. The LAS
contract is meant to support our nation’s Building Partner Capacity policy,
which provides friendly nations the capability to defend themselves as our
forces withdraw and to equip their own forces instead of deploying ours.
The pilots in these friendly nations have trained in our country in the
Beechcraft T-6 Texan II trainer operated by the USAF and U.S. Navy. The
T-6 has been in service since 1999 with dependable, safe performance.
The U.S. Air Force has evaluated the Super Tucano before!! In the
1996 competition for the Joint Primary Aircraft Trainer (JPATS) Program, the
USAF REJECTED the EMB 312 ON THE BASIS OF POOR AIRCRAFT HANDLING QUALITIES and
decided to acquire the T-6 Texan II. In the current LAS acquisition
process there was NO hands-on evaluation of the competitive aircraft. Had
there been, the poor handling qualities of the Brazilian-made aircraft would
have, once again, been readily apparent.
The U.S. Air Force IGNORED very significant factors while making
the LAS contract decision:
1.
The AT-6
predecessor, the T-6, is used to train every DOD fixed-wing pilot. Any
Allied pilot training done in the U.S. is done in the T-6. THE AIRPLANE
IS PROVEN IN OVER 1.8 MILLION FLYING HOURS OF RELIABLE SERVICE.
2.
The AT-6
employs a mission system from the A10C Thunderbolt II aircraft that has been
proven in every desert combat campaign, it employs the sensor system from the
MC12W Liberty aircraft currently deployed in Afghanistan, and it has proven
capability to accurately deliver a wide range of current U.S. and NATO
precision and unguided munitions in Congressionally sponsored, Air National
Guard funded tactical demonstrations. The U.S. TAXPAYERS HAVE ALREADY
PAID ONCE for the development of all of these capabilities and they are
integrated in the AT-6. WHY PAY A SECOND TIME FOR A MORE EXPENSIVE ALTERNATIVE?
3.
The logistic
support system for the AT-6 airframe and mission systems is in place and paid
for today. Maintainer training, pilot training, technical manuals, parts
stocks are all part of the U.S. DOD capability today! WHY TAKE THE RISK
OF INTRODUCING ANOTHER AIRCRAFT (with no established U.S. support capability)
AT A HIGHER COST WITH LESS COMBAT CAPABILITY?
4.
THE USAF
DECISION PROCESS DID NOT INCLUDE A HANDS-ON EVALUATION OF THE EMB314 FLIGHT
HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS. This is important because in a previous
competition in 1996, the POOR (UNSAFE) HANDLING QUALITIES of the EMB312 as
evaluated by the USAF was a major factor in the decision to buy the T-6.
This is a difficult time in our country. Our economy is
slowed and high quality manufacturing jobs are on the wane. Just last
week, the President called on industry leaders to help rebuild the U.S. job
base and in-source jobs back to America. The U.S. Air Force decision for
the EMB 314 will result in the LOSS OF 1,400 U.S. JOBS. For Hawker
Beechcraft in Wichita, 500 of those are engineering jobs and 300 are highly
skilled aircraft manufacturing jobs. The tradeoff is 50 jobs in Florida
to facilitate “U.S. delivery” of an aircraft manufactured by Brazilian labor
and flown to the U.S.
It is fair to tell you that Embraer has a U.S. partner, Sierra
Nevada Corporation, based in Nevada with the Congressional support that
brings. This relationship allowed the bid to be entered as a U.S.
company. If the parallels between the Boeing and Airbus competition on
the U.S. Air Force tanker contractor are striking, they should be.
We have filed suit against the U.S. Government in the Federal
Claims Court, and the judge has agreed to hear the case on its merits. In
the face of this review, the U.S. Air Force has issued a stop work order on the
LAS contract. That would seem to indicate the error of this decision
might now be recognized, but we are not relying on this process.
If the U.S. Air Force decision to award this contract to a foreign
aircraft does not make sense to you, I am writing you to ask for your
help. It is very easy. Go to our website, www.missionreadyAT-6.com,
and use the already prepared letters to let our leaders know what you want
done. The site also supports writing your own letter if time and interest
permits. LOOK OVER THE ENCLOSED MATERIALS AND SEE IF THIS U.S. AIR FORCE
DECISION MAKES SENSE TO YOU AS A U.S. TAXPAYER. I guarantee it will
not. If you agree, please pass this letter and the attachment on to your
friends.
On behalf of our 6,000 people, I want to thank you for taking the
time to get this decision objectively reviewed by our nation’s decision makers.
Sincerely,
Bill Boisture
Chairman & CEO
Please see link below:
http://action.missionreadyat-6.com/4871/tell-congress-support-beechcraft-at6/?m=2681186
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