Boston ? Defense contractor Raytheon Co. plans to sell its aircraft business for $3.3 billion to Hawker Beechcraft Corp., a new company formed by an affiliate of Goldman Sachs and Onex Partners.

The world’s fifth-largest defense contractor said Thursday it expects to pocket $2.5 billion after taxes from the sale of the Wichita, Kan.-based unit that makes Hawker and Beechcraft planes for commercial and military markets. The business has more than 8,500 employees and about 100 centers worldwide.

The deal included facilities and other assets in Little Rock, Ark., Dallas and two sites in Kansas, and the company’s maintenance, service and support network across the United States, United Kingdom and Mexico, Raytheon Chief Financial Officer David Wajsgras said.

The aircraft division to be sold makes Beechcraft single-engine, two- and four-seat planes and Hawker midsize, twin-engine corporate jets.