Seabird Seeker
Australian light observation aircraft
The Seabird Seeker is a light observation aircraft built originally by Seeker Aviation Australia and Seabird Aviation Jordan. Since 2016 it has been manufactured in the US by Seeker Aircraft (US)/Erickson. It is powered by a Lycoming O-360 engine. The aircraft is marketed as a low cost alternative to observation helicopters for the military and civilian sectors. It can be used in roles such as pipeline inspection, coast watch, environmental duties, aerial photography and security. The Seabird Seeker has had some export success, and is operated by the Iraqi Air Force.
As of 2016 Seekers are currently flying in Australia, Jordan, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Tanzania, UAE, and the US with the New Mexico State Police, among other operators.
US acquisition and manufacture
In March 2014 Seeker Aircraft (US), a subsidiary of the global aviation company CSI Aviation, acquired Seabird Aviation, the Australian manufacturer of the Seabird Seeker, with plans to eventually move Australia-based manufacturing operations to the United States In March 2016 Seeker Aircraft (US) announced that Erickson Inc. of Portland, Oregon, would begin manufacturing the Seeker aircraft in the United States In the US the Seeker aircraft has FAA Part 23 Normal Category certification, allowing use for commercial operations.
Operational history
Two SB7L-360A Seekers were purchased by the United States in 2004 in response to an initial requirement for eight fixed wing observation aircraft to equip the new Iraqi Air Force under the command of the Coalition Provisional Authority.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Seabird Seeker” as australian light observation aircraft. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7440170. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2016, 2014 and 2004.
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This entry incorporates text from “Seabird Seeker” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.