Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has awarded Textron Aviation an $18.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for one Beechcraft King Air 360CER, designated the UC-12W+, plus an initial package of spare parts for the U.S. Marine Corps. The aircraft is scheduled for delivery in 2028, the same year four more UC-12W+ aircraft already in production are expected.

Textron Aviation announced the order in a press release dated November 9, 2026, and said the contract was awarded on September 28, 2026. According to the release, the Marine Corps’ active Operational Support Airlift inventory includes nine operational UC-12W and UC-12W+ aircraft, and the program projects a fleet of 30 UC-12W aircraft.

What the UC-12W+ is built to do

Textron Aviation describes the UC-12W+ as a tactical airlift platform for short-notice, time-sensitive, high-priority missions. The cabin can be reconfigured for passengers, cargo or mixed-use utility, and the aircraft can carry medical evacuation litters. The eight-seat passenger layout can be changed for cargo or medical transport.

The aircraft is based on the King Air 360CER and has extended-range fuel tanks, a large cargo door, Collins Aerospace Pro Line Fusion avionics and Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-60A engines. Mission equipment listed by Textron Aviation includes secure military avionics and communications, night-vision-compatible lighting, weather detection, gravel-runway protection and aircraft survivability systems.

The release carries NAVAIR public release number SPR2026-0743 and contains no quotes from Marine Corps or Textron Aviation officials.

Where the UC-12W fleet is heading

The UC-12W aircraft are replacing the Marine Corps’ legacy nondeployable UC-12F, UC-12M and UC-35D utility aircraft, according to Textron Aviation. The fleet operates from Marine Corps Air Stations and transportation squadrons, including Camp Pendleton, California.

The September 28 award covers a single aircraft, while the service’s budget plans call for larger buys. Aviation Week reported on May 6, 2026, that the Marine Corps plans to buy 10 UC-12W support aircraft in fiscal 2027, with seven more planned for 2028, and that the Department of the Navy’s budget request includes $204.5 million to buy the modified Beechcraft C-12 Hurons from Textron Aviation. According to that report, the plan would nearly double the UC-12W fleet in one year.

Textron Aviation’s release does not say whether the new contract is part of those fiscal 2027 purchases, and it gives no schedule for retiring the UC-12F, UC-12M and UC-35D aircraft or for reaching the 30-aircraft fleet.

Other King Air 360 military business

The King Air 360 family has drawn other government buyers in 2026. AirPro News has reported on the Peruvian Army’s King Air 360C selection in April 2026 and on a Philippine King Air 360ER surveillance deal in January 2026.

Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, has been selected to deliver the S-92A+, the newest variant of its S-92 helicopter, to the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) for the service’s Presidential Helicopter II program. Lockheed Martin announced the selection on November 6, 2026, without disclosing the number of aircraft, the contract value or a delivery schedule.

The selection keeps the S-92 family in a role it already fills in South Korea. The ROKAF took delivery of three S-92 helicopters in 2007 and has relied on them for nearly two decades of presidential transport, according to the Lockheed Martin press release. Korea Aviation Engineering & Maintenance Service (KAEMS), a subsidiary of Korea Aerospace Industries, will complete the mission equipment in South Korea.

What the contract covers

Beyond the helicopters themselves, the contract covers additional special mission equipment and sustainment support, including critical spare parts and field service representation, according to Lockheed Martin. The release does not say how many S-92A+ aircraft the ROKAF will receive.

Wonik Lee, South Korea country executive for Lockheed Martin, said: “We are deeply honored that the S-92A+ has been selected as the Republic of Korea’s presidential helicopter.” He said he was confident the aircraft would continue “supporting this critical mission with the highest standards of safety and reliability,” pointing to the platform’s shared presidential transport heritage in South Korea, the United States and other nations. Lee said the milestone reflects Lockheed Martin’s “longstanding commitment to the ROK-U.S. alliance.”

What the S-92A+ adds

The S-92A+ adds upgraded engines, a new Phase IV main gearbox and increased payload or fuel capacity, according to the release. Sikorsky gave more detail on the configuration in March 2026, when it said it was standardizing all production aircraft on the S-92A+, each with the Phase IV main gearbox and upgraded engines.

In that March release, Sikorsky said the Phase IV gearbox has a minimum operating lifecycle of more than 6,000 flight hours, with longer intervals between overhauls, and auxiliary lubrication that lets the helicopter complete a flight safely even if primary oil pressure is lost. At the time, the gearbox was in its final 200 hours of endurance testing. Increased shaft horsepower from the GE CT7-8A6 engines maintains power across a wider range of temperatures in hot and high-altitude conditions, and the added engine power and airframe strengthening raise maximum gross weight to 27,700 pounds, which Sikorsky said provides an additional 1,200 pounds of payload or fuel. AirPro News has previously reported on the Phase IV gearbox’s safety features.

The configuration began as an upgrade kit. In April 2020, Sikorsky signed Canada’s VIH Aviation Group as the first S-92A+ kit customer, for four kits. At that point, Sikorsky said full-scale testing had shown the gearbox could provide return-to-base capability over more than 400 nautical miles if primary lubrication oil pressure was lost. The S-92A+ capability remains available as a retrofit kit for any S-92A, with an option for upgraded engines, according to the March 2026 release.

Production in Stratford and Owego

Sikorsky is ramping up S-92A+ production in Stratford, Connecticut, and Owego, New York, with capacity to produce up to 12 aircraft a year, according to the November 6 release. In March 2026, when Sikorsky announced that it was preparing its first S-92A+ production batch, it said the aircraft were for a new head-of-state transport customer and anticipated orders from head-of-state and offshore-energy customers.

That March release said a 14th country had ordered two aircraft for head-of-state transport, and that Sikorsky would assemble those two plus three additional S-92A+ aircraft. Stratford will produce S-92 dynamic components, including the main gearbox, blades and drivetrains, while the Owego workforce has delivered 23 new U.S. presidential helicopters based on the S-92A platform. Sikorsky also delivered two S-92A aircraft to head-of-state customers in Asia and the Middle East in 2025, according to the same release.

The S-92 in South Korea and worldwide

Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky’s partnership with South Korea spans more than 70 years and includes the Black Hawk, Seahawk and S-92 programs, according to the company. Beyond presidential transport, S-92 helicopters have supported Korea Coast Guard search and rescue, as well as firefighting and lifesaving missions for the National 119 Rescue Headquarters, part of the National Fire Agency.

Worldwide, Lockheed Martin said the S-92 fleet has logged more than 2.6 million flight hours, with an average lifetime availability rate of more than 90%, and that more than 300 aircraft have been delivered across 28 countries. The type supports head-of-state and VIP transport, offshore energy and search and rescue missions, and is the foundation for the U.S. Marine Corps’ VH-92A Patriot presidential helicopter, which continues Sikorsky’s record of transporting every U.S. president since 1957.

The U.S. Air Force has added funding to Joby Aviation’s autonomous flight contracts, bringing its total commitment to nearly $37 million and raising the ceiling on Joby’s operational testing contract to $50 million. The money is aimed at autonomy software development and expanded operational testing in the Pacific.

Joby announced the expansion in a press release distributed on November 4, 2026, the same day it reported third quarter 2026 results. The agreements cover software integration and operational testing across two primary contracts with AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation arm, and follow a cross-country tour in which a Joby-equipped Cessna Caravan logged 6,665 miles of autonomous flights, with landings in 11 states and integrated operations across 24 states.

What the Air Force is paying for

According to the release, the funding supports autonomy software development and expanded operational testing in the Pacific as the Air Force moves toward sustained autonomous logistics operations. Joby said the new contracts will focus on follow-on Pacific military exercises, and that the funding also supports ongoing design updates and safety reviews to extend the autonomy stack’s capabilities.

The two figures in the announcement measure different things. Nearly $37 million is the Air Force’s total commitment, while $50 million is a ceiling on the operational testing contract. In the forward-looking statements attached to the release, Joby lists Air Force funding and appropriations limits, and the possibility that a contract ceiling is not reached, among the risks to its plans.

JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby Aviation, called the expansion “a powerful validation of the adaptability of Joby’s autonomy stack.” He said the system was designed to be platform-agnostic and that the funding “will accelerate our path to sustained uncrewed operations.”

Kate Brown, Contested Logistics Tactical Airlift Lead at AFWERX, said the goal is to “sustain cargo operations in contested environments” while reducing risk to aircrews and preserving crewed aircraft for the missions that need them.

From Agile Flag to a coast-to-coast tour

The autonomy system at the center of the contracts came to Joby through its acquisition of the autonomy division of Xwing, which Joby completed in June 2024. In an August 26, 2024 release, Joby said that team flew a fully autonomous Cessna 208B Grand Caravan for more than 3,900 miles between military bases and public airports in California and Nevada during the Air Force’s Agile Flag 24-3 exercise, with a safety pilot monitoring the aircraft. The aircraft completed a fully autonomous taxi, takeoff and landing at each of 9 locations, after the Xwing team had logged more than 2,800 miles of fully autonomous flight in Agile Flag 24-1 earlier that year.

“The return on investment for the U.S. Air Force with this technology is significant,” Col. Max Bremer, Air Mobility Command Special Access Program management officer, said in that release, explaining that using the system for smaller cargo frees larger cargo aircraft for tasks such as moving large parts or engines. According to Joby, the system delivered critical replacement parts 24 hours faster than conventional logistics during Agile Flag, and during REFORPAC exercises in August 2025 an aircraft in Hawaii was operated remotely from Guam, nearly 4,000 miles away. AirPro News covered Joby’s role in the REFORPAC 2025 exercise at the time.

The cross-country tour, part of Joby’s 2026 Electric Skies campaign, took the aircraft from Concord, California, to North Carolina’s Outer Banks with zero control inputs from its onboard safety pilot. Joby said in its September 18, 2026 release that the 3,199-mile eastbound flight was supervised remotely from Joby’s Autonomy Headquarters in California and from Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, where the aircraft demonstrated representative military flight operations. AirPro News reported on the transcontinental autonomous flight the following day.

Across the full multi-leg tour, Joby said the aircraft performed fully autonomous taxiing, takeoffs, route navigation and landings under remote supervision from up to 2,537 miles away. The September release gave a remote supervision distance of up to 2,323 miles for the eastbound transcontinental flight. A ground-based operator monitors each flight, updates routes and communicates with air traffic control in real time, and the autonomy stack has completed more than 400 fully autonomous flights, according to Joby.

Where defense fits in Joby’s business

Joby is best known for its piloted electric air taxi, and the November 4 release presents the autonomy work as part of a dual-use strategy covering defense logistics, cargo and emergency response. Its autonomous J208 operations are part of the White House-backed eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) in Utah and North Carolina. North Carolina tour flights supported the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s eLIFT-NC initiative for statewide healthcare logistics, and western flights contributed to the Utah Department of Transportation’s multi-state uFLY coalition, which is evaluating high-altitude, extreme-environment airspace integration for the FAA.

Joby also plans to acquire Resonant Sciences, with closing expected early in 2027. In its third quarter 2026 results release, filed with the SEC on November 4, Joby described Resonant Sciences as an EBITDA-positive defense technology company with more than $100 million in trailing twelve-month revenue and said the deal would significantly expand its defense business. Closing conditions for the planned Resonant Sciences acquisition remain outstanding, according to the filing.

The same results release put third quarter 2026 revenue at $55 million, primarily from Blade, the passenger transportation business Joby operates in the United States and Europe. Joby said it is in the fifth and final stage of FAA type certification and has 17 aircraft in production.