The U.S. Army issued a requirement for an Embraer 145 regional jet to be used for destructive testing purposes at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland on October 17th, 2012.
The requirement notes that the aircraft, which should be almost entirely intact, would be delivered over land to the test site and then would be subject to various unspecified tests which would, based on the requirement, result in the airframe’s destruction.
In 2006 the Army placed a requirement to purchase used Airbus and Boeing 737 passenger cabin aircraft sections for similar testing purposes.
While it is not known which aircraft have been offered to fill the requirement, many mothballed high-time ERJ-145s are stored in various locations around the United States and there are two companies that have responded to the requirement.
The contract is slated to close on October 24, 2012.
