US to Offer Joint Development of Scorpion Attack jet to India

US defence secretary Ashton Carter's two-day visit to India in early June is expected to raise the levels of bilateral strategic and defence co-operation between the two countries, senior Indian military officials have told IHS Jane's .

Carter will sign a 10-year India-US Defence Framework Agreement and fast-track the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI), under which the two countries will co-develop and co-produce military equipment in India.

Industry sources said that under the DTTI, which Carter initiated as deputy defence secretary in 2012, the US was expected to offer the Textron AirLand Scorpion light-attack and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft currently being developed to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, who is believed to have expressed interest in the Scorpion, believes the twin-seat platform can double as an intermediate jet trainer (IJT). The IAF badly needs an IJT due to delays to the Sitara (Star) platform, which Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has been developing since 2005.

At the 2014 Farnborough Airshow, Textron officials told IHS Jane's that the Scorpion would cost less than USD20 million to procure and around USD3,000 per hour to operate. The company has also outlined a sales target of 2,000 platforms to international operators over the coming years. It did not respond to requests for comment on the potential deal with India.

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Nigeria Requesting Permission to Purchase Textron Scorpion Light Attack Fighter

Nigeria's air force has expressed an interest in acquiring the Textron AirLand Scorpion strike and surveillance aircraft in order to counter the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in the country.

The service currently operates both dedicated strike and surveillance types – the Chengdu F-7Ni and ATR 42, respectively – but believes that a low-cost aircraft with a dual capability would enable quicker and more precise counter-insurgency operations.

“In my country, we want and need this,” AVM RA Ojuawo, director of operations representing CAS, Nigerian air force headquarters, told the International Fighter conference in London on 18 November. “We want this equipment, but are they going to give it to us?”

Ojuawo says Abuja will soon put in a request to the US government for the sale of up to a squadron’s worth of aircraft. However, it worries that approval may not be granted, based on the previous rejection of its appeal for Bell Helicopters AH-1 Cobra rotorcraft.

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Textron Preparing for Scorpion Light Attack Jet Manufacturing

Textron AirLand has started making preliminary decisions ahead of launching the production phase of the light attack and reconnaissance Scorpion jet.

A formal production launch depends on signing the first order, but Textron AirLand is already selecting suppliers for the production phase, a spokesman says.

Honeywell has been selected to deliver a turbofan engine – the TFE731-40AR-3S – for the twinjet. It is the same engine currently powering the developmental prototype.

In September, Textron Aviation chief executive Scott Ernest said a launch order for the Scorpion could be announced by the end of this year.

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Video of Textron's Scorpion Jet's Taxi Test

Report: Textron Scorpion Light Attack Jet to Have First Flight Next Week

Textron is planning for first flight of its self-funded Scorpion light attack/ISR collector as early as next week, program sources say.