ATAC Awarded F-35 Chase Flight Services Contract
Newport News, VA – August 10, 2022 — Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC), part of the Textron Systems segment of Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT), announced today that it has been awarded a five-year indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract by the U.S. Navy to provide chase flight services for the F-35 program.
ATAC will provide three Mirage F1 aircraft for approximately 600 flight hours per year from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NAS JRB) in Fort Worth, Texas. Flight operations are expected to commence late in 2022 or in early 2023. ATAC crews will support new F-35 aircraft during their first flights, along with product assurance flights. Mirage F1s will be used to fly specific profiles and provide airspace clearance and aircraft systems checks.
ATAC is the global leader of tactical airborne training and has previous experience conducting F-35 chase services, having successfully performed missions in 2019 and 2020 from the ATAC Adversary Center of Excellence (ACE) in Fort Worth, Texas. ATAC has pioneered much of what are now contracted air services industry standards with a fleet of over 100 aircraft, over 70,000 flight hours and 25 years of operating experience.
“Being chosen to provide F-35 chase services is yet another validation of ATAC’s continued industry-leading solution headlined by our fleet of Mirage F1s,” said Scott Stacy, ATAC Senior Vice President and General Manager. “We are well-positioned for continued expansion following our successful wins in 2020 and the company’s sustained operations for our U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force customers.”
About Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC), LLC
ATAC provides tactical flight training and adversary aggressor services for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force, including live military air-to-air, air-to-ship, and air-to-ground training and support services. ATAC comprises the world's leading civilian-provided, tactical airborne training organization and proudly provides the highest quality live training to squadrons, Air Wings, and Battle Groups. For more information visit www.atacusa.com.
About Textron System
Textron Systems is a world leader in unmanned air, surface and land products, services and support founded on the combined expertise in our family of brands that includes Textron Systems, Howe & Howe, Lycoming, and ATAC. We harness the unlimited power of teamwork to solve incredible problems across seven specialized domains: air, land, sea, propulsion, weapon systems, electronic systems and test, training & simulation. From product development and manufacturing to training, operations and support, we integrate and offer ingenious and advanced solutions to support defense, aerospace, and other customer missions. For more information, visit www.textronsystems.com.
About Textron Inc.
Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Artic Cat, Textron Systems, and TRU Simulation + Training. For more information visit www.textron.com.
Certain statements in this press release may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update them. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, uncertainty in the volume of orders that will be issued under the IDIQ contract; changing priorities or reductions in the U.S. Government defense budget, including those related to military operations in foreign countries; our ability to perform as anticipated and to control costs under contracts with the U.S. Government; the U.S. Government’s ability to unilaterally modify or terminate its contracts with us for the U.S. Government’s convenience or for our failure to perform, to change applicable procurement and accounting policies, or, under certain circumstances, to withhold payment or suspend or debar us as a contractor eligible to receive future contract awards; and risks related to multi-award contracts.
Contact
John Rupp, ATAC
Tel (757) 298-8467
Jrupp@atacusa.com