The versatile King Air has become popular as an intelligence and reconnaissance platform and is widely operated by forces around the world for this and a variety of other roles, proving that you do not have to reinvent the wheel when seeking to develop niche military capabilities.
The twin-turboprop King Air has gone through many changes of ownership since the first flight of the original C 90 in May 1963. First sold under the Beechcraft name, which was later acquired by Raytheon and then Hawker Beechcraft, the King Air family has been part of Textron Aviation since 2014, marketed under the Beechcraft brand.
