As revealed in Monday’s 1,040-page Pentagon budget justification document on its 2025 budget, the Air Force’s T-7A “Red Hawk” trainer program is facing yet another delay. Entry into service is now projected for mid-2028, a full year’s delay from the last published date.
Air Force spokesman Andrew Hunter told reporters yesterday (March 12) that a combination of budget constraints and a stalled testing program cut the planned 2025 Fiscal Year budget for T-7 acquisitions in half to $235 million for a new total of seven examples. “Right now,” he said, “the flight test is going relatively well. If we don’t discover something unexpected, I do think we will get into production in fiscal 2025. That’s why we’re requesting production funds in our ’25 budget. But it will probably be a little later in the year than we anticipated.” Originally, production was expected to launch last December.
According to the documents filed Monday, the current schedule calls for Developmental Test and Evaluation to conclude in May 2025, Initial Operational Test and Evaluation to start in January 2026, with Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) to begin in April 2026.
Air Force plans call for acquiring 351 of the Boeing-Saab T-7A Red Hawks including five test aircraft. Three have already been delivered, with completion of the two remaining test examples stymied by a quality issue with vendor parts and supply chain issues, according to Boeing.
Powered by a single General Electric F404 turbofan, the T-7A is meant to replace the Air Force’s fleet of aging twin-engine Northrop T-38 Talon trainers, which entered service in 1961.
Saab do build some fine aircraft and will fit well advanced training scenarios.
Kind of crazy that the AF is buying a new airplane with an engine designed 50 years ago.
The decision to use the GE F404 was probably made to lower risk and a newer engine’s development time and testing. The GE F404 is a proven engine used in the F/A-18 and the newer trainers from Korea and India, the KAI T-50 and HAL Tejas MK1. Many variations of the F404 have been built and flown over the years and probably will fly for many more.
Not crazy at all. Look at the Allison T-56. With or without enhancements, success proven designs are smart decision.
Wow, this delay means it will be 10 years (2018-2028) from contract award to Initial Operational Capability (IOC)! For a trainer with no radar or weapons! I feel sorry for those USAF instructors that have to keep waiting and using old technology.
Does anyone else think this plane looks hideous? Whatever happened to making good-looking airplanes?
Agree. Nothing like the T-38 for looks.
Gee, I wonder why a Boeing product isn’t going to be delivered on time…
Meanwhile, is the Textron Scorpion being used by the US military?
I was going to say that only the government could so mess up its vendor pool that delivery problems like this weren’t a scandal, but much of corporate America has done it to themselves as well.
Is it because they both are getting advice from the same consultants and new talent from the same schools?
I wonder if it would speed things up if they told Boeing to just “sit this one out”, and let Saab do it all. Saab has built some mighty fine planes in the past. Damn shame though, having to go overseas to get our military hardware built.
Dan D Ruff and cgroote, for what it’s worth, I think it’s a really good looking airplane – and much better looking than the T-38, which – to my eyes – looks like it was designed by subcommittees that didn’t speak to each other.
On the other hand, these delays are ironic: as I recall, the aircraft was pitched as quickly-to-design and quick-to-produce because of Boeing’s advanced development tools.
Has Boeing become a dysfunctional company?
Yes, sadly.
March 3, 2024:
The U.S. Air Force is one step closer to adopting its new training jet for pilots. At the end of February, Air Force teams at the McKinley Climatic Lab at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, completed a month of extreme temperature tests on the new T-7A Red Hawk. The tests, which ranged from freezing conditions to high heat and humidity, were meant to measure how the air frame could handle real-world climate conditions.
The T-7A is currently undergoing a range of tests as the Air Force works to adopt it as its new trainer aircraft. For years, Air Force pilots trained on the T-38. In fact, they trained on it for decades; the T-38 was introduced into service in the early 1960s and it has been the standard instructional jet for Air Force pilots since. The Air Force began looking for a replacement in the early 2000s, with the T-7A designed as something pilots could train on to prepare for flying fifth-generation fighter jets.
The McKinley Climatic Lab is a large, multi-chamber installation meant to simulate various environments, from Arctic cold conditions to dry desert air. Those were some of the scenarios the T-7A was put through. One jet was situated in the 55,000-square-foot space and subjected to extremes in heat, ranging from 110 degrees Fahrenheit to negative 25 degrees. It was also put through humidity tests as well, all while technicians evaluated how the software and engine worked in those conditions.
“We need to know the T-7A can operate in the environmental conditions it will encounter at pilot training bases around the country,” Dr. Troy Hoeger, the Chief Development Tester for the T-7A at the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center, said in a statement from Air Force Material Command.
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The T-7A, named the Red Hawk to honor both the Tuskegee Airmen (also known as the “Red Tails”) and the P-40 Warhawk plane, is meant to prepare Air Force pilots for operating F-22 and F-35 planes. The jet fits two, a pilot and an instructor.
With the month of tests done, the plane is going back to Boeing for an additional assessment post climate exposure.
Boeing delivered the first T-7 Red Hawks to the Air Force last fall. Airmen started flight tests with it at the end of the year at Columbus Air Force Base before the climate tests at Eglin AFB. Defense News reported that although originally meant to be operational capable by 2024, delays and parts issues have pushed back the schedule on widespread adoption for training. The Air Force intends to buy 351 T-7As as well as simulators and other related equipment.