The Department of Defense released the details of a new contract this week that awards $71.48 million (firm-fixed-price) to Sierra Nevada Corp. of Hagerstown, Maryland for the Saudi King Air 350 program. Sierra will be responsible for modifiying two King Air 350 extended range (KA350ER) aircraft with intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance/synthetic aperture radar (ISR/SAR) capability, one transportable ground station, one fixed ground station and one mission system trainer.
“Work will be performed at Hagerstown, Maryland, and is expected to be complete by April 30, 2020,” noted the release, “This contract is 100 percent foreign military sales to Saudi Arabia. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-16-C-4003).”
The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) currently fields two electronic intelligence (ELINT) King Air 350i platforms (purchased in 2011) which operate out of Al Kharj Airbase. Additionally, the King Air 350 program has another 13 King Air 350s for general utility functions.
KA350ER outfitted with these mods are primarily used to track militant infiltration across the borders. In Saudi Arabia, they will likely also be used to monitor oil infrastructure and support naval operations.