The Grob G 120TP is a two-seat

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

and

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

low-wing aircraft with a

composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic material ...

airframe, built by

Grob Aircraft Grob may refer to: * Grob Aircraft, a German aircraft manufacturer * Grob fragmentation, an elimination reaction between an electrofuge and nucleofuge on an aliphatic chain * GrOb or Grazhdanskaya Oborona, a Russian punk band * Grob Gob Glob Gro ...

. It is based on the Grob G 120A training aircraft and has been developed for military and civil pilots training. It has a retractable tricycle landing gear and a low

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, is a small lift (force), lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters ...

. The first customer was the

Indonesian Air Force The Indonesian Air Force (, sometimes shortened as IDAF / IdAF) is the Air force, aerial branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The Indonesian Air Force is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is headed by the Chief of Staff of th ...

EASA The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Commission with responsibility for civil aviation safety in the European Union. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs inve ...

Part 23

type certification A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). Certification confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production is in compliance w ...

was completed in May 2013.

Design and development

Designed to be a further development of the G 120A, the G 120TP turned during the development process into a nearly new type of aircraft. Due to the new powertrain, the G 120TP offers new capabilities for basic and advanced pilot training, where it can be used as a lead-in for a jet trainer. The airframe is made of

fiberglass reinforced plastic Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

and is stressed to +6/-4g. The wings are made of carbon fibre composites with winglets. The cockpit provides room for students and teachers wearing military equipment and helmets. The

HOTAS HOTAS, an acronym of hands on throttle-and-stick, is the concept of placing buttons and switches on the throttle lever and flight control stick in an aircraft cockpit. By adopting such an arrangement, pilots are capable of performing all vital ...

control system is similar to that found in other types of aircraft that students may fly later in their careers. Therefore, basic and advanced flight training for future transport aircraft, helicopter, or jet pilots will be possible. The cockpit is equipped with movable seats, or optionally, the new

Martin-Baker Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Limited is a British manufacturer of ejection seats and safety-related equipment for aviation. The company was originally an aircraft manufacturer before becoming a pioneer in the field of ejection seats. The comp ...

Mk.17 lightweight ejection seats. The instrument panel can be equipped with a 4-screen

Genesys Aerosystems Genesys may refer to: * Genesys (company), a customer experience and contact center technology company * ''Genesys'' (RPG), a tabletop role-playing game released by Fantasy Flight Games in 2017 * ''Genesys'' (video game), an educational video gam ...

IDU-680 EFIS. An autopilot and air conditioning system are available, as well as an oxygen system and second thrust lever.

Operators

; *

Argentine Air Force The Argentine Air Force (, or simply ''FAA'') is the air force of Argentina and one of three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. In 2018, it had 13,837 military and 6,900 civilian personnel. FAA commander in chief is Brigadie ...

:Argentina is the second operator of the G 120TP. Deliveries of the first batch of four aircraft started in June 2013, with a total delivery of 10 aircraft(+5). ; *

Bangladesh Air Force The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) () is the aerial warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The air force is primarily responsible for air defence of Bangladesh's sovereign territory as well as providing air support to the Bangladesh Army a ...

:Ordered 24 in June 2021. Under the deal, Grob Aircraft will also build a

and

carbon fibre composite Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

repair workshop and a propeller repair workshop in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. On 15 December 2021, the Bangladesh Air Force received the first 12 Grob G-120TPs, from Germany. Full delivery has been completed in 2022. ; *

Ecuadorian Air Force The Ecuadorian Air Force (; FAE) is the air branch of the Armed Forces of Ecuador. Mission To develop the military air wing, in order to execute institutional objectives which guarantee sovereignty and contribute towards the nation's security an ...

: Ecuadorian Air Force is an operator of the G 120TP. Deliveries of the aircraft started in 2019, with a total of eight aircraft. ; *

Ethiopian Air Force The Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) () is the air service branch of the Ethiopian National Defence Force. The ETAF is tasked with protecting the national air space, providing support to ground forces, as well as assisting civil operations during wa ...

:The Ethiopian Air Force operates a total of six G 120TP that were all acquired in 2020. ; *

German Air Force The German Air Force (, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ) was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces of West Ger ...

:The German Air Force have chosen four G 120TPs to train its air force pilots at the Phoenix-Goodyear airport, Arizona. ; *

:The launch customer for the G 120TP was the Indonesian Air Force, which operates a fleet of 30 aircraft, as well as a G 120TP – Flight Training Device. ; *

Royal Jordanian Air Force The Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; Arabic: سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, ''Silāḥ al-Jaww al-Malakī al-ʾUrdunī'') is the aerial warfare branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces. Founded in 1955, the RJAF serves as the primary ...

:The Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) awarded Grob Aircraft an order to supply 14 aircraft, among which one CBT System and one G 120TP FTD for elementary pilot training. The aircraft entered service in April 2017. Around that same time, Grob confirmed it had delivered 12 of the 14 ordered aircraft. In January 2018, the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

announced it had donated two aircraft to Jordan. ; *

Kenya Air Force The Kenya Air Force (KAF) or is the national aerial warfare service branch of the Republic of Kenya. The main airbase operating fighters is Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki, while Moi Air Base in Eastleigh, Nairobi is the headquarters. Other ba ...

:The Kenya Air Force operates a fleet of nine G 120TP training aircraft. ; *

Mexican Air Force The Mexican Air Force (FAM; ) is the air service branch of the Mexican Armed Forces. It is a component of the Mexican Army and as such overseen by the National Defense Secretariat (SEDENA). The objective of the FAM is to defend the integrity, in ...

:The Mexican Air Force (FAM) has selected the Grob G 120TP as its new elementary trainer. The contract contains 25 aircraft (+15) equipped with the Genesys Aerosytems EFIS IDU-680. The delivery of the first batch was in February 2015 and the final batch in February 2016. The training will be completed by a Computer Based Training (CBT) System and four G 120TP Flight Training Devices. ; *

Myanmar Air Force The Myanmar Air Force (, ) is the aerial branch of the Tatmadaw, the armed forces of Myanmar. The primary mission of the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) since its inception has been to provide transport, logistical, and close air support to the Myanm ...

:The Myanmar Air Force operates a fleet of 20 G 120TP (+10) training aircraft equipped with Genesys Aerosystems EFIS IDU-680. The pilot training will be supported by a CBT System and one G 120TP FTD. ; *

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalatin ...

:In 2021, the Swedish Air Force selected the Grob G 120 TP as its new Basic Trainer Aircraft, designated SK 40 (Trainer Aircraft type 40). Ten aircraft and a simulator are on order, with delivery expected in 2022 and service starting in 2023. The first three aircraft were delivered on 3 April 2023. An additional order for three more aircraft was announced in October 2024. ; *

UK Military Flying Training System The UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) takes UK armed forces aircrew from initial training through elementary, basic, and advanced flying training phases, preparing them for their arrival at their designated operational aircraft units. ...

:The MFTS provides tri-service Elementary Flying Training to British military pilots on a fleet of 23 G 120TPs named the Grob Prefect T1. :The system replaces separate flying fixed-wing and rotary training programs for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and Army Air Corps. The service provider Ascent uses the G 120TP together with the Beechcraft T-6 and the

Grob Tutor The Grob G 115 is a general aviation fixed-wing aircraft, primarily used for flight training. It is built in Germany by Grob Aircraft ( Grob Aerospace before January 2009). The E variant with a 3-blade variable pitch propeller is in serv ...

to provide initial, basic and advanced training. ; :

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Specifications

References

External links

* {{Swedish military aircraft designations G120TP 2010s German military trainer aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Single-engined turboprop aircraft Aircraft first flown in 2010

Design and development

Operators

Specifications

See also

References

External links