Field Aerospace has completed avionics upgrades on more than 50 T-1A Jayhawks, the military designation for the Beechjet 400A, for the U.S. Air Force. Oklahoma City-based Field was selected as the prime contractor for the U.S. Air Force Avionics Modernization Program on the T-1A.
That contract calls for Field to upgrade the Air Force’s fleet of 178 T-1As over seven years. The company is teaming with subcontractors Nextant Aerospace, Collins Aerospace, Hebco, and FlightSafety International to complete the work, which calls for upgrading the twinjets' flight decks to Collins’s Pro Line 21 avionics. That system enables the T-1A to meet the FAA’s ADS-B Out mandate, as well as eliminate avionics obsolescence.
Stationed across five Air Force and Navy bases—Columbus in Mississippi, Laughlin and Randolph in Texas, Vance in Oklahoma, and Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida—the T-1A is used for advanced-phase training of airlift and tanker pilots, as well as combat systems officer training.