John Koziol: L-3 Eyes US Military Allies as Potential Spydr II Aircraft Buyers

An official with L-3 Communications has said the company is ready to offer to international customers a new aircraft designed to perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, FlightGlobal said Wednesday.

Craig Hoyle writes John Koziol, vice president of ISR systems at L-3, made the announcement after the company launched the Spydr II aircraft at the Farnborough air show in the U.K.

“Our goal is to sell the aircraft to military allies, and potentially for customs and border patrol,” Koziol told FlightGlobal.

“This is marketable now,” he added.

The report said Spydr II is based on the Beechcraft-built King Air 350ER plane and is designed to carry 26 different sensors such as maritime radar, signals intelligence system, ground moving target indication radar and light detection and ranging tools.

Koziol noted L-3 plans to incorporate into the aircraft hard-wing hardpoints designed for weapons transport and consider the possible integration of Raytheon’s Griffin weapon tool and other systems with Spydr II in 2017, according to the report.