Scorpion

The Scorpion jet is a new direction for tactical aircraft designed to excel in roles ranging from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to close air support and armed reconnaissance. Textron AirLand’s Scorpion jet is designed and built with leading-edge technologies. The Scorpion is very versatile in terms of mission flexibility with its center payload bay, six hard points, high dash speeds and extended endurance and loiter time at cruise speeds. The Scorpion provides unparalleled acquisition and operating costs with a dispatch reliability rating exceeding 98 percent.

No other jet has the surveillance and strike capability of Scorpion. And at less than $20 million to acquire, and $3,000 per flight hour, no other jet matches Scorpion’s affordability. Scorpion is jet fast – with the ability to get to an escalating situation quickly – yet can maneuver at much lower speeds, if the mission requires it.

Quickly reconfigurable, Scorpion’s interior payload bay is provisioned for sophisticated ISR systems. Plus, Scorpion is capable of being weaponized using a variety of weapon sets, including precision guided munitions (PGMs) for precision strike. While on mission, Scorpion brings the ability to see and exploit perishable intelligence and strike fleeting targets, bringing tactical advantage to even the most demanding situations.

Scorpion is powered by two turbofan engines that together produce approximately 8,000 pounds of thrust. The engines are directed by a Digital Electronic Engine Control and supply conditioned bleed air to the pneumatic system. Accessories mounted on the engine gearbox power electrical and hydraulic systems. The engines can operate on Jet-A, JP-5, and JP-8 jet fuels.

Scorpion’s internal payload bay provides critical operational flexibility to quickly incorporate new payloads, scaling tactical systems performance to meet operational capability needs. With its modular partitioning, loading, alignment and retention system, the payload bay can accommodate a variety of sensors, fuel, and communications modules in the most appropriate capability mix to meet a diverse range of mission performance profiles.

When friendly troops are in close contact with the enemy, Scorpion has the power to quickly sprint at 450 KTAS to the scene, find, target, and employ appropriately scaled kinetic effects. Using multi-spectral sensors, on board processing, and the ability to self-designate targets through the weather for precision engagement, Scorpion’s diverse ISR and Strike capabilities ensure mission success.

Complex, multi-faceted training of future tactical aircrews demands an aircraft that effectively transitions Intermediate pilots through Advanced Jet Training and also affordably “downloads” 4th and 5th generation training tasks. With dual cockpits and a modular adaptable mission system, Scorpion is an ideal platform to train tomorrow’s tactical aviators in multiple platform and operational employment disciplines from the basics of jet operations to employing multi-spectral sensors and precision guided weapons.

The company announced 22 December 2016 Garmin as the avionics provider for the enhanced Scorpion. This avionics platform is based on the advanced G3000 integrated flight deck and is optimized for rigorous military operations. The newly configured G3000 avionics system features a large, high-definition display complemented by two high-definition touch-screen controllers and provides more mission capability in the forward cockpit position, additional navigation capability in the rear cockpit position and overall weight savings for improved performance as a multi-mission aircraft. In addition to the new avionics, changes to the airframe include four degrees of sweep to the wings, an enhanced aft horizontal stabilizer for improved high-speed performance, a simplified landing gear design, a next-generation Heads Up Display (HUD) and hands-on throttle and stick (HOTAS) controls.