The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has awarded Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) with a contract for two additional Multi-Role Enforcement Aircraft (MEA).
“We are honored that Customs and Border Protection continues to entrust SNC with the development of this mission-critical aircraft,” said Tim Owings, executive vice president of SNC’s Integrated Mission Systems business area. “These aircraft have proven to have the endurance and special mission systems uniquely suited to meet the challenges of protecting the United States border.”
The company also noted that the SNC has been the prime systems engineer and integrator for the MEA fleet since 2009.
The MEA aircraft is a fully certified, highly-missionized version of the King Air 350, equipped with a sophisticated array of active and passive sensors, technical collection equipment and satellite communications capabilities. It provides integrated multi-role special mission services to CBP and is capable of carrying out a wide range of missions. This twin turboprop aircraft platform leverages more than 15 years of SNC’s King Air modification and integration heritage and 800,000+ hours of operational experience on special mission platforms for a wide array of government and military customers.
To date, SNC has provided a fleet of 23 other King Air 350 aircraft used to safeguard the nation as part of CBP’s coordinated aviation and maritime law enforcement efforts. SNC will continue to perform work covered by this contract from its facilities in Hagerstown, Maryland.