Sierra Nevada, Embraer win contract for Afghan planes

Sierra Nevada Corp. and Brazilian-based Embraer beat out Beechcraft for a $427 million Air Force contract to provide planes for the Afghan military.

Sierra Nevada and Embraer will provide 20 light air support planes to the Afghans under the contract, which the companies have won for the second time.

The contract could be worth a maximum of $950 million through 2019.

The Air Force had picked Embraer’s A-29 Super Tacano in 2011, but it rescinded the contract award last year after a lawsuit from Beechcraft, then known as Hawker Beechcraft, which claimed it was unfairly disqualified from the competition.

The dispute had become an issue when Brazil’s president visited the White House last year, as Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff discussed the contract with President Obama when they met.

Brazil is still considering which contractor to award a major deal for 36 new fighter jets, and Boeing is one of the finalists.

After rescinding the initial light air support award, the Air Force took new bids from both Beechcraft and Sierra Nevada-Embraer last year.

The selection of Embraer’s Super Tacano over Beechcraft’s AT-6 was a blow to the Wichita, Kan.-based company, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month.

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