Interest brisk in Textron's Scorpion military jet on display near Washington, D.C.

Textron AirLand officials are showing off their new military jet, the Scorpion, this week to potential customers, aviation enthusiasts and even members of Congress.

For the first time, however, it’s also showcasing the multiple sensor systems that can be fit onto the jet to perform a variety of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions and their integration.

That showcases the “robust capabilities” that the Scorpion brings to customers, said Steve Burke, Textron AirLand’s vice president of business development.

The response has been overwhelming, Burke said.

“We’ve had a number of different countries come by,” along with members of Congress and representatives from the Department of Defense, including the Air Force and Navy, he said.

“It’s one thing to see (the Scorpion) on the website,” Burke said. “It’s another thing to see it in person. ... It’s been a busy couple of days.”

The plane is on display this week inside a private hangar at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, three miles south of downtown Washington.

It’s the Scorpion’s first visit to the nation’s capital.

The event is being held as the Air Force Association holds its 2014 Air and Space Conference and Technology Exposition in a convention center 10 miles from the airport.

Companies providing sensors and weapons that can be incorporated into the Scorpion are exhibiting a variety of products inside the same hangar.

The interactive exhibit demonstrates the plane’s flexibility and features a variety of multi-spectral sensor and high-definition camera packages that are engineered for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, the company said. Several wing-mounted mock munitions are also on display, which represent the typical array of air-to-surface and air-to-air weapons preferred by the U.S. and partner nations, it said.

Some of the exhibitors include L3, FLIR Systems, Thales, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Textron Systems, MBDA, Boeing Systems and Boeing Defense.

It’s a good way to show customers the diversity of the plane’s capabilities, Burke said.

For example, the Scorpion can be equipped to detect images on the ground through the clouds or through the heavy cover of a rain forest.

It can detect explosives from altitude and distinguish between vegetation. Sensors could be used to tell the difference between an illicit crop of narcotics and the rice paddies next to it, for example, Burke said.

It could be used to monitor illicit activity, provide maritime security to a country’s fisheries and protect the fishing rights of a nation, he said.

“We want our customers to be able to add new capabilities” to the plane, Burke said. “It’s an advantage to them and allows us to sell more aircraft.”

With a price tag of $20 million, the Scorpion costs less than other tactical aircraft for sale, Burke said. Operating costs are $3,000 an hour, he said.

Often, countries can’t afford to replace or upgrade their military fleets or even keep them flying because of high costs, Burke said. Without enough aircraft, a country is limited on what it can do, he said.

“We designed the Scorpion to fill that mission need,” he said.

The Scorpion jet — built in secret at a Cessna facility in southeast Wichita— was designed as a tactical plane able to take on a variety of missions, such as irregular warfare, border patrol, maritime surveillance, emergency relief, counter-narcotics and defense operations.

The twin-engine plane was unveiled in September and is in flight testing. It has about 200 flight hours.

Low-volume production is slated for 2015. Testing and early production will be done in Wichita, company officials said.

The company is having ongoing discussions with a variety of locations about where full-rate production will be done, he said.

Wichita is one those locations, Burke said.

The plane made its international debut in Europe in July at the Royal International Air Tattoo and the Farnborough Airshow outside London.

In August, it took part in Vigilant Guard 2014, a Northern Command and Kansas National Guard training exercise to demonstrate the capabilities of military and civil emergency response agencies.

More than 2,000 local, state and federal personnel participated.

The Scorpion provided color high definition multi-spectral aerial reconnaissance full motion video and communications with other aircraft and ground stations over four days, Textron AirLand said.

It participated in a variety of scenarios, including a simulated train derailment, chemical spill, infrastructure damage, medical evacuations and recovery operations.

In all, the plane supported rapidly changing events on the ground and provided the Joint Task Force commander with awareness needed to re-task surveillance and first responder teams as the disaster relief scenarios evolved, it said.

A launch customer

Textron AirLand is getting close to announcing a launch customer, Burke said.

“We believe so, but we’re not at liberty to discuss it,” he said. “I’m very excited and enthusiastic about the success of the program.”

It’s also getting closer to announcing details of its certification and where full-rate production will be done.

“We are pedaling hard and getting ready to transition into production,” Burke said.

This story was originally published September 17, 2014 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Interest brisk in Textron's Scorpion military jet on display near Washington, D.C.."