Boeing wins 10-year T-38C contract as USAF looks to T-X

Boeing has defeated an unnamed challenger to secure a 10-year contract worth up to $855 million for Northrop T-38C Talon avionics and logistics support, maintaining its involvement with the widely-used aircraft through 2026 as the US Air Force fields a replacement “T-X” combat trainer.
Boeing completed a major T-38A/B avionics suite upgrade in 2007, converting 463 Talons to the T-38C standard by replacing analog components with a new digital cockpit. Northrop Grumman, meanwhile, has delivered replacement wings sets over the past decade, while general upkeep of the 55-year-old supersonic trainer is managed organically from the air force’s Ogden Air Logistics Complex at Hill AFB in Utah.
Meanwhile, structural upgrades to more than 150 T-38s through the “Pacer Classic III” structural modification are being performed by maintainers, extending the venerable trainer’s life to 2029.
flightglobal

Boeing says its T-X Design Won't Be Unveiled Soon

Boeing continues to develop a custom-designed solution for the US Air Force’s T-X trainer replacement program with an eye on contract award in 2017 — but a company official indicated Monday that a preview of what that may look like is still a ways away.
It's not defined the timeframe that we will roll out the family of systems, including the new aircraft.
Indeed, Boeing’s plans for T-X are a closely guarded secret. Almost nothing about the design itself has leaked.
What is known is that Boeing is teamed up with Sweden-based Saab to develop the aircraft for an off-the-shelf custom design geared to meet the Air Force’s requirements. However, Boeing officials, including defense head Chris Chadwick, have insisted the plane will not be a modified version of Saab’s Gripen fighter.
The winner of the T-X competition will replace the service’s T-38 trainers with 350 new aircraft.
Boeing is facing off against the Hawk Advanced Jet Training System, a joint program led by BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman; Lockheed Martin’s offering of Korean Aerospace Industries’ T-50; and the T-100, a collaboration between General Dynamics and Italy’s Alenia Aermacchi based on the latter’s M-346 design. Textron AirLand is also offering a trainer variant of its new Scorpion jet.
defensenews

TALON Laser-Guided Rockets succesfully fired from MD 530G helicopter

Raytheon successfully fired four TALON laser guided rockets from the MD 530G armed aerial scout (AAS) helicopter.
TALON LGR is a low-cost, digital semi-active laser guidance and control kit co-developed with the United Arab Emirates. TALON's guidance section integrates directly to the front of the legacy 2.75-inch Hydra-70 unguided rockets while its unique tail kit replaces the legacy Hydra-70 wraparound tail kit.
This latest successful firing and subsequent original equipment manufacturer certification of TALON follows the recent certification in April for air worthiness release of the weapon on the Apache AH-64D/E attack helicopter.
Raytheon's TALON requires no hardware or software modifications to the launcher or aircraft platform for any aircraft that fires 2.75-inch Hydra-70 unguided rockets using the standard M260/261 launchers..
raytheon

USAF activates new F-22 squadron at Tyndall AFB

The US Air Force is activating the 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall AFB, Florida, on 11 October, kicking off a process that will eventually see 24 additional F-22 Raptors being assigned to the base.
Once the first jets arrive in January, more will start arriving in phases through April 2014.The squadron will eventually have 24 aircraft, which includes 21 primary jets and three backup aircraft.
The Raptors were previously based at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, with the 7th Fighter Squadron, but are being shifted as part of an overall USAF effort to consolidate its F-22s at six bases. Combined with the 31 Raptors already assigned to the 325th Fighter Wing, Tyndall AFB will host a total of 55 F-22s.
The 95th Fighter Squadron will not be immediately mission ready when its jets arrive. It will have to slowly ramp up its operations to get back up to speed.
Unlike the wing’s 43rd Fighter Squadron, which is the F-22 formal training unit, the 95th Fighter Squadron will be a frontline combat unit. While it is somewhat unusual for an operational unit to be based alongside a training unit, it is not unprecedented.
In addition to the Raptors, the 325th Fighter Wing will also receive 10 additional Northrop T-38s by the end of the third quarter, bringing the total number of Talon jet trainers at the base up to 20. The small twin-engined jets are used as adversary aircraft for the Raptors.
flightglobal

Boeing, Saab in Talks to Partner on 'T-X' Trainer Bid

Boeing and Saab are discussing a partnership on the US Air Force’s T-38 trainer replacement program. USAF intends to purchase 350 new trainers, likely pushing the contract award into the billions of dollars.
Talks between the companies at the highest level are advanced and likely to lead to an agreement.
Boeing has teamed with Saab on commercial products in the past, but a teaming arrangement to bid for the T-X program would mark the first major partnership between the two on a new military platform, where they have been fierce competitors.
Saab’s JAS 39 Gripen and Boeing’s F/A-18 Hornet have gone head-to-head in a series of international fighter competitions, including Thailand, the Czech Republic, India and Switzerland., Both are contenders to replace Denmark’s fleet of F-16 fighters.

BAE and Northrop to announce T-X production location before year’s end

BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman are set to announce where they intend to build the Hawk jet trainer for the US Air Force's T-X advanced jet trainer replacement programme before the end of the year, says a top company official speaking at the Paris air show.
But there are questions as to whether the USAF has the money to pay for a replacement for the venerable Northrop T-38 Talon. Earlier in the year, Gen Edward Rice, head of the Air Education and Training Command, said that even before the cuts mandated by the Congressional sequestration law went into effect, the service did not have the money allocated to pay for a new trainer.
Later in the year, USAF chief of staff Gen Mark Welsh and outgoing air force secretary Michael Donley said that while the service needed a T-38 replacement, it does not have the money to pay for such a programme.
flightglobal

Boeing Leans Toward New-Build Design For U.S. Air Force T-X

After a long flirtation with the concept of a partnership to offer a foreign fast-jet trainer to the U.S. Air Force as a T-38C replacement, Boeing will forgo an off-the-shelf bid in favor of a new-build design or opt not to bid at all.

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