USAF signs first-ever CRADA of its kind

At table, from left, Dr. Kenneth W. Barker, USAF Deputy Technical Airworthiness Authority; Mr. Jorge F. Gonzalez, USAF Technical Airworthiness Authority; Tom Hammoor, President, Textron Aviation’s defense company; nd Bill Anderson, President Textron AirLand LLC., sign the first ever Collaborative Research and Development Agreement for the Non-DoD Military Aircraft Office while surrounded by their respective team members from the NDMA office and Textron AirLand Inc. (U.S. Air Force photo/Bill Hancock)

USAF signs first-ever CRADA of its kind

Published Aug. 2, 2016
By Bill Hancock
88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- A Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) has been signed between the Air Force and Textron AirLand, LLC, a Textron Inc. company of Wichita, Kansas.

Under this collaborative agreement, the United States Air Force Airworthiness Office will provide an airworthiness assessment of the Model 530 Scorpion, a non-DOD military aircraft designed, developed and funded by Textron AirLand, LLC.

“This is the first of its kind, we have not done a CRADA like this before and we have never had a partnership with industry to assess aircraft that are not under a USAF acquisition contract,” said Jorge F. Gonzalez, USAF Technical Airworthiness Authority.

The assessment, conducted under the auspices of Mr. Gonzalez, may be used by industry as a verification of the safety of aircraft design. The assessment is important when industry seeks to make direct commercial sales to foreign military services.

The NDMA office will help the Air Force gain valuable insight into the state of aviation development outside of the traditional defense sector, as well as an awareness of Independent Research and Development activities of U. S. aerospace companies, according to Gonzalez.