The GAO had denied Beechcraft’s protest over the decision by the Pentagon to award the light-attack aircraft contest to Sierra Nevada Corp. and Embraer SA.
The U.S. Air Force gave both the A-29 and AT-6C equal rating in all areas except technical risk whereby the AT-6C was deemed riskier as the proposed maximum gross take-off weight is more than 40 percent greater than the T-6. Therefore, the Air Force believe that the AT-6C was unlikely to achieve military certification within the necessary time period.