The T-6 is a joint Air Force/Navy undergraduate pilot trainer developed under the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System program. The aircraft is based on the Swiss-designed Pilatus PC-9, and the Navy version is designated T-6B.
Mods include a strengthened fuselage, zero/ zero ejection seats, upgraded engine, increased fuel capacity, pressurized cockpit, bird-resistant canopy, and digital avionics with sunlight-readable LCDs. The tandem student and instructor positions are interchangeable, including single-pilot operation from either seat.
The T-6 is fully aerobatic and features an anti-G system.
Ongoing mods include a crash-survivable flight data recorder, and updated training aids. The fleet completed NextGeneration Onboard Oxygen Generation System (OBOGS) upgrades in 2024. Improved maintenance and inspections resulted in an 82 percent reduction in hypoxia-type incidents in the interim and upgrades aim to eliminate aircrew oxygen problems from the fleet.
FY25 will launch the delayed Avionics Replacement Program (ARP) to replace the T-6A’s aging HUD cockpit displays and interface, integrate simulated air-to-air/air-to-ground weapons and EW, and modernize debriefing aids. Future development includes controlled flight-into-terrain-avoidance systems.
A single T-6A made a gear-up landing at JBSA Randolph on April 3, 2024, following an inflight emergency.
The Vietnam Air Defense Air Force received its first three T-6Cs on Nov. 20, 2024, as part of a landmark Foreign Military Sale of 12 aircraft. The delivery marked the first U.S. aircraft delivery since the end of the Vietnam conflict, buttressing regional partnership capacity to confront growing regional threats.
T-6 Texan II Technical Data
Contractor: Beechcraft/Textron Aviation Defense (formerly Raytheon).
First Flight: July 15, 1998.
Delivered: May 2000-May 2010.
IOC: May 2000.
Production: 452 (USAF); 328 (USN).
Inventory: 442 (USAF).
Operator: AETC, USN.
Aircraft Location: USAF: Columbus AFB, Miss.; Laughlin AFB, JBSARandolph, and Sheppard AFB, Texas; Vance AFB, Okla.; NAS Pensacola, Fla.
Active Variant: •T-6A. Joint service primary training aircraft, based on the Pilatus PC-9.
Dimensions: Span 33.5 ft, length 33.4 ft, height 10.7 ft.
Weight: Max T-O 8,300 lb (T-6).
Power Plant: One Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68 turboprop, 1,100 shp.
Performance: Speed 320 mph, range 1,035 miles.
Ceiling: 31,000 ft.
Accommodation: Two pilots on Martin Baker MK16LA zero/zero ejection seats.
