Embraer [ERJ] said recently it signed a 10-year lease on a 40,000 square foot facility at Jacksonville International Airport, Fla., where it will produce its A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft for the Air Force’s Light Air Support (LAS) program for Afghanistan.
The facility will perform pre-equipping, mechanical assembly, structural assembly, systems installation and testing and flight testing of the A-29. Embraer is producing the A-29s for Sierra Nevada Defense Corp. (SNC), which in February was awarded a $427 million contract by the Air Force to provide 20 A-29s for Afghanistan’s nascent air force.
Losing LAS bidder Beechcraft is protesting the Air Force’s award. The Air Force directed SNC and Embraer to start work on the A-29s despite Beechcraft’s protest.
This is the second time Beechcraft has protested the Air Force’s LAS award to SNC.