ATAC Selected as Provider of Training for Navy’s TACT Program

WASHINGTON — Textron Airborne Solutions, a business unit of Textron Inc., announced on May 1 that its Airborne Tactical Advantage Company subsidiary (ATAC) has been selected as a provider of contracted air services under the U.S. Navy’s Terminal Attack Controller Trainer (TACT) program.

Training provided under the IDIQ contract will be led by ATAC and includes a team made up of Textron Aviation Defense and the Valkyrie Defense family of companies. They will deliver contracted live-air training to forward air controllers, joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs) and forward air controllers (Airborne) on ATAC’s L-39 Albatros, Textron Aviation Defense’s Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine light attack and armed reconnaissance aircraft and Valkyrie’s A-27 Tucanos.

“TACT is a marked increase in both the quality and quantity of JTAC training services demanded by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. ATAC’s world-class team is pleased to provide the most mission-representative JTAC training solutions available,” said Russ Bartlett, CEO of Textron Airborne Solutions.

“Textron Aviation Defense is proud to be on this air services contract to equip the TACT community with the Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine’s cost-effective, high-performance close air support capability,” said Brett Pierson, vice president of Light Attack Aircraft and Scorpion. “The Navy and Marine Corps flew the AT-6 during the U.S. Air Force Light Attack experiments and are well-acquainted with its unparalleled mission capability and optimized battlespace networking capability.”

“Everyone at Valkyrie Defense’s family of companies is excited to be working with ATAC in providing the best contracted close air support and JTAC training available. We look forward to fulfilling the needs of the U.S. warfighter for years to come with our fleet of aircraft,” said Charlie Keebaugh, CEO of Valkyrie Aero.

ATAC has a fleet of more than 90 aircraft, having pioneered much of what are now contracted air services industry standards with 20 years of operating experience and 57,000 flight hours. For the past 15 years, ATAC has provided a wide range of contracted close air support capabilities to U.S. Department of Defense JTAC communities across Europe, continental U.S., Hawaii and the western Pacific region. The only contractor that has operated supersonic fighter aircraft for the DoD, ATAC has helped train crews from the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps and regularly operates out of as many as 25 different bases per year. Textron Airborne Solutions focuses on live military air-to-air, air-to-ship and air-to-ground training and support services. Within Textron Airborne Solutions is Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC), a business that provides tactical flight training and adversary aggressor services for Navy, Marine and Air Force pilots.

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