Esterline CMC Electronics receives first production order for its Integrated Cockpit 4000 Suite from Hawker Beechcraft for T-6B

CMC Electronics Inc. (CMC) has received its first production order from Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) for CMC's Integrated Avionics System (IAS) for the HBC T-6B Texan trainer aircraft in November 2008. The IAS, known as the CMC Cockpit 4000, includes an Integrated Avionics Computer (IAC), a Heads-Up Display (HUD), Up Front Control Panel (UFCP), and Multifunction Displays (MFDs). CMC received the order for the first 35 aircraft in the production run after completing all necessary program requirements. This order comes approximately seven months after HBC successfully conducted its first flight on the T-6B Texan in April 2008.

The T-6B Texan is based on the successful Beechcraft T-6A, already in service as the U.S. military's Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) aircraft, and is also the primary trainer for the NATO Flying Training Canada (NFTC), and the Hellenic Air Force of Greece. Through the introduction of the CMC advanced avionics upgrade, the T-6B aircraft retains all of the inherent training and flying characteristics that have made the T-6A the most successful primary trainer in the world, while introducing a state-of-the-art open architecture advanced avionics suite that mirrors the systems and capabilities of today's front-line military aircraft.

"This order is a significant milestone for CMC," explains Jean-Michel Comtois, CMC's vice president, military aviation. "The Cockpit 4000 provides a cost-effective, advanced military aviator training solution to air forces around the world, and better positions CMC to capture the lion's share of the basic trainer global market for turboprop training aircraft." CMC is scheduled to deliver its first production T-6B Cockpit 4000 in the fourth quarter of 2009.