Mark V EGPWS support is over. Avcon's new STC is the upgrade path.

Avcon Industries now has an FAA-approved path off Honeywell's Mark V EGPWS, a unit Honeywell no longer supports. Honeywell ended production of the Mark V EGPWS in 2014, concluded repair, service and support on Dec. 31, 2024 and stopped database subscription renewals on April 30, 2026 unless operators had approved MKV-A transition or aircraft sunset plans. The challenge for operators now is whether the upgrade can be coordinated with planned maintenance events rather than becoming a standalone project. Avcon Industries announced on Oct. 13 FAA approval of an AML-STC (No. ST12439CH) allowing installation of Honeywell's replacement MKV-A unit on Learjet 40/45 and 60 models, Challenger 600, 601, 601-3A, 601-3R and 604 models, and the Global Express and Global 5000 models (BD-700-1A10 and BD-700-1A11). The company says the installation uses existing avionics racks and is intended to minimize installation effort. That provides an FAA-approved path for several common business-aircraft platforms. Avcon says it is applying for STC validation from Transport Canada, EASA and the UK CAA. Aging business jets are prime candidates to proactively address avionics' obsolescence with specific systems that are increasingly challenging to support. That is where EGPWS fits today. The FAA has required TAWS or EGPWS on turbine-powered airplanes with six or more passenger seats since 2000. While a pre-buy inspection may not kill a transaction for an aircraft still carrying Mark V, buyers increasingly want to understand what unresolved costs sit ahead of them after closing. Unsupported avionics systems become part of that conversation. The availability of approved replacement solutions often determines how disruptive an obsolescence issue becomes. Operators can plan around scheduled upgrades, but they struggle more with systems that lack a clear path forward. For the aircraft Avcon's STC covers, the MKV-A transition is now in the phase where the challenge is scheduling and budgeting rather than searching for a solution. Why it matters For owners and flight departments, the Mark V has become a maintenance-planning item rather than a theoretical future concern. Honeywell says Mark V database files cannot be reused on the MKV-A, so the swap brings new files as well as new hardware. For operators outside FAA oversight, validation from Transport Canada, EASA and the UK CAA can't come soon enough.