Textron AirLand, LLC, a joint venture between Textron Inc. and AirLand Enterprises, LLC,  unveiled its Scorpion prototype, a versatile Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)/Strike aircraft platform. The aircraft was introduced during a press conference at the Air Force Association Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition in National Harbor, Maryland.

The demonstration aircraft is now in test phase, with first flight scheduled to occur before the end of this year—a rapid schedule by any measure of military jet development. Textron Chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly said, “We began development of the Scorpion in January 2012 with the objective to design, build and fly the world’s most affordable tactical jet aircraft capable of performing lower-threat battlefield and homeland security missions.” Donnelly continued, “We relied on commercial best practices to develop a tactical jet platform with flexibility and capabilities found only in far more costly aircraft.”