Beechcraft protests dropping of armed AT-6 by USAF...

[Stratofreighter]

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... id-365163/

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-d ... ver-1.html

Hawker Beechcraft spent over $100 million on what?!

In one of the more perplexing turns we've witnessed on the defence beat, the US Air Force has apparently dismissed the Hawker Beechcraft AT-6 from consideration for the light air support (LAS) programme several months after receiving the company's bid and only days before a scheduled contract award.

And we don't know why.
Beechcraft says the USAF letter provided no basis for the decision.
The USAF declined to comment on the status of either the AT-6 or the Embraer/Sierra Nevada bid based on the Super Tucano until after contract award in late November or early December.

[SquAdmin]

Remarkable! I'm curious about the reasons behind this. Of course the AT-6 lacks the track record of the Super Tucano, but everyone knew this from the start. Maybe USAF wanted to make everyone believe there was actually a competition going on while in fact they already knew that Super Tucano was the preferred option?