After delays, L3Harris expects first MC-55A delivery to RAAF this year
Australia contracted with L3Harris via the US Air Force’s foreign military sales process in 2019, with a program of record for four aircraft – but the project has been beset by delays
The MC-55A taking flight. (L3Harris photo)
AVALON AIR SHOW — The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) will take possession of a unique, multi-mission intelligence aircraft dubbed the MC-55A Peregrine this year, as prime contractor L3Harris wraps up developmental work after years of delays.
The company is now “position[ed]… to deliver this capability to the RAAF this calendar year,” Jason Lambert, L3Harris’s president of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), said in a virtual briefing with reporters on Monday.
The MC-55A is a modified version of Gulfstream’s G550, one of many projects around the world to equip business jets with military mission systems. Australia contracted with L3Harris via the US Air Force’s foreign military sales process in 2019, with a program of record for four aircraft.
But the project has been beset by delays. L3Harris previously expected to deliver the first aircraft as early as 2023, according to media reports.
Lambert would not comment directly on the magnitude of the schedule slip, but said the company is “working within the schedule and within the costs” established as part of the contract, which has “evolved over time.” He attributed delays to “working through flight parameters and characteristics, along with the flight computer associated with the changing of the outer moldline shape” of the aircraft to accommodate military equipment.
After achieving requisite certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration in December, “now we’re on our path to delivery,” Lambert said.
The Australian Department of Defence did not respond to questions about the program’s schedule by press time. In a separate briefing, an Australian official reportedly said the aircraft will arrive within the next 12 months.
Lambert declined to comment directly on the capabilities of the aircraft, but said its tasks include “multi-mission strategic ISR,” which entails electronic warfare and command and control functions as well.
The RAAF will be “the first customer for this particular mission set,” Lambert said. “I can say this is the first aircraft of its kind with this volume of capability and this volume of sensor suite package on a business jet.”
L3Harris is eyeing other international sales for the MC-55A platform. According to Lambert, the company has another FMS customer who is buying the G550 baseline and similar mission systems, though he did not name who.
