Victoria Police Select King Air for Multi-mission Role

Textron Aviation has delivered a special-mission Beechcraft King Air 350ER to Skytraders, an Australian aviation service company that will operate and maintain the twin-turboprop for the Victoria Police Air Wing (VPAW).

VPAW will use the airplane, which has already entered service, for airborne law enforcement, search and rescue, training, and extended marine safety missions throughout the Australian state.

“The King Air 350ER will undertake a wide variety of roles and enhance aviation capabilities of Victoria police,” said Victoria police aviation program director Ashley Bellamy. “With extended endurance and range, it will complement our helicopters by providing a valuable, uninterrupted observation platform that will support police across the state.”

A custom mission package for the airplane includes an advanced mission-management system, ground moving target indicator object detection, tactical flight officer workstations, tactical radios, satcom, and data downlink. Optional, factory-installed Pratt & Whitney PT6A-67A engines are on the airplane.