Textron Aviation Defense, Wichita, Kansas, has been awarded a $12,496,793 contract for Tunisia T-6C long lead items procurement and site survey. This contract provides for the procurement of long lead production items and spares to support delivery of eight T-6Cs in 2022 and conducting a site survey in Tunisia. Work will be performed in Wichita, Kansas, and is expected to be completed October 2022. This contract involves Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Tunisia and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
In October 2019, the US State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Tunisia for twelve T-6C Texan IIs and related equipment and support for an estimated cost of USD 234 million. The T-6C platform will bolster their capability to respond to and engage threats in multiple areas across the country. On 19 November 2020, the Tunisian minister of national defence officially announced that the government approved the contract for eight T-6C Texan II trainer aircraft and related equipment and support. The T-6Cs will most probably replace the Tunisian Air Force aging advanced trainer fleet, currently consisting of L-59T jet trainers.
The Government of Tunisia has requested to buy aircraft with supporting equipment, to include: 312 MAU-169 Computer Control Groups (CCG); 312 MXU-1006/B Air Foil Groups (AFG); 468 MK81 250 LB GP bombs; 18 BDU-50s (MK-82 Filled Inert); 66 MXU-650 C/B Air Foil Groups (AFG), GBU-12; sixty (60) Guidance Section, guided bombs, MAU-209, GBU-10,12,16; 48 MK-82 500lb bombs; 516 FMU-152 A/B fuzes; 18 GAU-169H(D-2)/B Computer Control Groups; 3,290 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS); 2 Pratt & Whitney PT6A-68D 1600 SHP engines (spares); 6 L-3 WESCAM MX 15D Multi-Spectral Targeting System; 6 Machine Gun Caliber .50; Cartridge Actuated Device/Propellant Actuated Device (CAD/PAD).
The Beechcraft T-6 Texan II is a single-engine turboprop aircraft built by the Raytheon Aircraft Company (which became Hawker Beechcraft and later Beechcraft Defense Company, and was bought by Textron Aviation in 2014). A trainer aircraft based on the Pilatus PC-9, the T-6 has replaced the United States Air Force’s Cessna T-37B Tweet and the United States Navy’s T-34C Turbo Mentor. T-6C Texan II is an upgraded version of the T-6B with wing hard points, primarily designated for export sales. In the official announcement there was no mentioning on the confirmation of a contract for four AT-6C Wolverine light attack aircraft.