The T-6A Texan II is a single-engined turboprop aircraft built by the Raytheon Aircraft Company (now Hawker Beechcraft). It is used by the United States Air Force for basic pilot training and by the United States Navy for Primary and Intermediate Joint Naval Flight Officer (NFO) and Air Force Navigator / Weapon Systems Officer (WSO) training. It is replacing the Air Force's T-37B Tweet and the Navy's T-34C Turbo Mentor. The T-6A is also used as a basic trainer by the Canadian Forces (CT-156 Harvard II) and the Greek Air Force.
The T-6 is a version of the Pilatus PC-9, modified significantly by Beechcraft in order to enter the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) competition in the 1990s. The aircraft was designated under the 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system named for the decades-earlier T-6 Texan. A similar arrangement between Pilatus and British Aerospace had also been in place for an RAF competition in the 1980s, although this competition selected the Shorts Tucano. The Beechcraft brand has since been purchased from Raytheon by Onex Corporation as Hawker Beechcraft.
The Texan II is built by Hawker Beechcraft in Wichita, Kansas. Although the design is heavily based on the Pilatus PC-9, the T-6 is a complete redesign from the ground up, and is considerably more sophisticated and powerful.
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