Air Force’s newest aircraft, the MC-12, now in Afghanistan

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — The Air Force’s newest plane in the field, the MC-12 surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, has been deployed in Afghanistan to support ground troops with video, still images and eavesdropping capabilities.

Six of the twin-engine turboprop planes already are deployed in Iraq, along with the one that arrived in Afghanistan just after Christmas, Air Force spokesman Andrew Bourland said Tuesday, Jan. 5. The aircraft, first delivered in 2009, cost taxpayers up to $21 million apiece.

The MC-12 program is managed from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

The mission of the planes is to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance directly to ground forces. The planes are equipped with satellite communications datalinks, voice communications and an electro-optical infrared sensor among other sensors, according to the Air Force.

The planes are to help support the 30,000 additional troops that President Obama ordered to Afghanistan, and are to supplement round-the-clock surveillance provided by unmanned Predator drones, Bloomberg News Service reported.

The MC-12 is a military version of the Hawker Beechcraft Super King Air 350 and Super King 350ER.

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