Raytheon-Beech MC-12W Project Liberty

[jslugman]

Caught this one coming into Tucson today: Raytheon-Beech MC-12W N63560. If you have any additional info on it please pass it along. Not a lot out there at the moment as you might imagine.

[wingsnstuff]

I receive as part of an organizational membership to American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) a daily news letter.  The following was posted on September 2, 2009.  "Northrop Grumman or possibly Boeing could be added to the contractors participating in the US Air Force's Project Liberty, a program designed to deliver Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350 and 350-ERs outfitted with video and signals intelligence to Iraq and Afghanistan." The contractors "are under consideration to increase the speed of deliveries of MC-12W Project Liberty aircraft to support ongoing operations. Already, L-3 Communications and ATK are modifying aircraft for the mission. ... Plans have been made for where to modify 32 of the 37 MC-12Ws; Boeing or Northrop could conceivably handle the final five."  It's essentially a scaled version of the Army's Guard Rail System for the Air Force.

[jslugman]

Thanks for the info. I've got a couple other feelers out there to see what I should definately label this as. Very scant info on the airframe, same colors as a couple MC-12Ws but lacking the gee-wiz things like RWR, sensor canoe, FLIR, etc. Hopefully I'll come up with something definitave (or *gasp* more photos) soon.

[Bubak]

Coronado, CA

[jslugman]

Have recently received info that the 23 new-build MC-12Ws have had their civilian N-numbers de-registered and had their build number converted into military serials.