Boeing wins T-X contract

The Boeing-Saab partnership has won a $9.2 billion contract to produce the next generation of Air Force training jets. The contract will allow the Air Force to buy up to 475 aircraft and 120 simulators, the Air Force said in a Sept. 27 statement, although the current plan is to buy 351 T-X aircraft, 46 simulators and associated ground equipment. Initial operating capability is planned by the end of fiscal 2024, with the first simulators arriving at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, in 2023. Full operational capability is projected for 2034. Saab promised that, should the partnership emerge victorious, it would build a new plant in the United States for its T-X work, although a location has not been announced. The other two teams competing for the contract were Leonardo DRS and Lockheed Martin. DRS’ T-100 is based on the Leonardo M-346 trainer, and the company announced its intention to do structural subassembly, final assembly and check out of the aircraft in Tuskegee, Ala., where it would build a new $200 million facility. Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries wanted to build a modified version of KAI’s T-50. Lockheed said that its T-50A would be built in Greenville, S.C., where it also plans to fabricate the F-16 in the future. (Sources: Defense News, Boeing, 09/27/18) Previous