Anticipating USAF will soon move out on its planned replacement of the T-38 jet trainer, BAE Systems announced Monday at AFA’s Air & Space Conference it would partner with Northrop Grumman in an exclusive team to bid on the proposed T-X. Northrop was the original equipment manufacturer of the T-38 Talon, and coupled with the training expertise built up in BAE’s Hawk tactical jet trainer, the team brings a formidable amount of experience to bear, said BAE Systems Executive Vice President for Services Sector Larry Prior. BAE has delivered more than 2,500 advanced jet trainers around the world. Northrop will act as the manufacturing lead for the T-X program. The team is offering a fully tailored training family of systems, integrating all aspects of instruction, from desktop simulators to classrooms to mobile devices and finally the two-seat Hawk Advanced Jet Training System itself, said BAE’s Bob Wood, the T-X campaign lead. With the multitude of missions anticipated for F-22 and F-35 pilots in the future, from electronic attack to strike, pilots will be asked to do much more than their fourth generation predecessors, and the Hawk AJTS is designed to train fifth generation pilots in a fifth generation environment, he added. (BAE Hawk T-X site)
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.