The Peruvian Air Force/Fuerza Aérea del Perú (FPR, Lima Las Palmas) has announced the acquisition of two Textron Aviation-manufactured Beech (twin turboprop) 360 King Airs, which will serve as air ambulances and strengthen the state’s rescue ability, medevacs, and other emergencies.
General Carlos Chávez Cateriano took delivery of the first King Air in an event at Textron’s headquarters in Wichita Cessna Aircraft Field in the United States. The Air Force said in a statement that the airframe, whose registration and serial numbers were not revealed at this time, will arrive in Peru by mid-October.
The two planes will be powered with Pratt & Whitney’s Canada PT6A-60A engines. They can carry up to 16 people onboard (a maximum of 11 citizens per evacuation flight and five medical personnel), and be configured for medevac operations with two stretchers and medical equipment.
Peru's minister of Defence, Walter Astudillo Chávez, recently said that one of the main goals of the Peruvian administration under president Dina Boluarte was to recover the operational capacity of the air force. "For this reason, the acquisition of this modern ambulance aircraft was approved, in addition to a second model that will arrive in the country in the first half of next year," the air force added.
ch-aviation has reached out to Textron for more information on the airframe’s registrations and serial numbers.
