Programma T-X

[TT-1 Pinto]

Saab ha dato inizio alla produzione ...

https://twitter.com/CombatAir/status/1219610011766329345https://twitter.com/CombatAir/status/1219610011766329345

... saabgroup.com ... https://saabgroup.com/media/news-press/news/2020-01/saab-starts-production-in-support-of-u.s.-air-force-t-7a-programme/ ...

 

[Flaggy]

Della serie tiriamo avanti coi T-38 che campa cavallo a mettere in linea 351  T-7A prima che caschino a pezzi...

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The US Air Force (USAF) has awarded Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) a potentially $240 million contract to produce further replacement wing sets for its Northrop T-38C jet trainer fleet.

https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/t-38-wing-deal-gives-iai-fresh-lift/136527.article

Modificato 4 Febbraio 2020 da Flaggy

[TT-1 Pinto]

Boeing punta ai mercati asiatici ...

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Boeing is pitching its T-7A Red Hawk to Asian militaries for the first time at the Singapore air show, as it seeks a first export deal for the advanced jet trainer. 
The airframer is on contract to build as many as 351 examples for the US Air Force (USAF), with the first aircraft scheduled for delivery in in 2023.
Boeing plans to produce as many as 48 aircraft per year for the service, but says it has the capacity to expand its annual production to support export sales.
In September 2018, the USAF selected Boeing for its $9 billion T-X contract to replace its 59-year-old Northrop T-38C Talons.
Boeing believes there is a global market for 2,600 T-7As, both as trainers and light-attack or aggressor aircraft.

... flightglobal.com ... https://www.flightglobal.com/singapore-air-show-2020/boeing-markets-t-7a-trainer-in-asia-as-it-eyes-first-export-deal/136697.article ...

[TT-1 Pinto]

Anche AINonline tratta l'argomento ...

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Now in development by Boeing and partner Saab for the U.S. Air Force, the T-7A Red Hawk has a bright future in the export market, said Thom Breckenridge, a Boeing Defense, Space, and Security marketing specialist, who foresees a global market for up to 2,600 of the advanced jet trainer. 
The Asia-Pacific region shows particular promise as a number of countries are either introducing or preparing to introduce fifth-generation fighters. 
In addition to training, the aircraft has the potential to be employed for other tasks, such as air-to-air adversary training and light attack.
Breckenridge noted that the T-7A is a “perfect complement” to new-generation fighters, including the Lockheed Martin F-35 that has been bought by Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. Boeing and Saab are sharing the global marketing effort.

... Boeing Sees APAC Potential for the T-7A Red Hawk ...

[TT-1 Pinto]

L'ideona  di Mike Holmes e le manovre occulte (ma non troppo) per tener fuori il '346' ... 

Quote

RFX Contract Revives USAF Hopes For Losing T-X Aircraft ...  

AW&ST ... Steve Trimble - March 18, 2020

Two advanced jet trainers - Korea Aerospace Industries/Lockheed Martin’s T-50 and Leonardo’s M-346 - dueled for decades for a chance to replace the U.S. Air Force’s T-38 fleet, only to lose to the Boeing/Saab team’s upstart and recently branded T-7A. 
The T-X competition ended 18 months ago, but a quietly heated competition between the T-50 and the M-346 to land a new Air Force contract called the “RFX” continues.
To be sure, the Boeing/Saab team’s grip on the $9.2 billion T-X contract remains safe. 
The Air Force is still counting on Boeing to deliver potentially 351 T-7As, with the first aircraft and simulator scheduled to be delivered to Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, in 2023. 
Before the T-7A can arrive, however, head of Air Combat Command (ACC) Gen. Mike Holmes has defined a requirement for the RFX. 
It would consist of access to 4-8 advanced jet trainers, each rented annually for about 4,500 flight hours over a five-year period. 
In an ironic twist, as a result of the RFX, one of the two losing aircraft for the T-X contract could play a pivotal role in transforming how the Air Force uses and bases the future T-7A fleet.
Holmes says the T-7A’s modern capabilities offer a generational chance not just to replace the 60-year-old Northrop T-38 fleet but also to revamp an 80-year-old pilot-training system that he says produces too few pilots and emphasizes the wrong skills. 
Last year, Holmes unveiled an ACC-led plan to reshape the pipeline for fighter and bomber pilots. 
His “Project Reforge” with the RFX, originally published on the War on the Rocks online publication, proposes to eliminate Formal Training Units and mix advanced jet trainers such as the T-7A with frontline fighters in operational squadrons. 
But first Holmes wants to validate that his ideas work. 
By renting flight time on advanced jet trainers available now, rather than waiting for T-7As after 2023, Holmes wants the ACC to be ready for a dramatic shift in training practices as the Boeing/Saab aircraft come into service. 
Thus, Holmes’ timeline rules out using the T-7A for the validation phase. 
Boeing has produced only two industry-funded prototypes, and both are needed to support the T-7A development program, which is scheduled to end at the initial operational capability milestone in 2024.
As a result, the ACC quietly opened discussions last May with two competing private companies that now represent the T-50 and M-346 to select a bidder for the RFX.
Hillwood Aviation, a Perot company, proposed T-50s to the ACC for the RFX contract. 
Mission System Solutions (MSS), an aerospace engineering services firm, offered M-346s.
From the beginning, the Air Force’s requirements strongly favored the T-50. 
The initial request for information (RFI) for the RFX released last May included a requirement for supersonic speed, which is a highly touted feature of the T-50 but eliminates the subsonic M-346. 
The ACC released the first request for information about the RFX services contract in May 2019, but Arlington, Texas-based MSS was initially unaware of the proposal, says MSS CEO David Nichols. 
MSS had played a key role in the Leonardo team’s bid for the M-346-derived T-100 bid for the T-X contract, providing aircraft engineering services during the lengthy source selection process. 
Following Boeing’s loss in the competition, MSS moved to secure access to at least four “white-tail” M-346s produced by Leonardo without a customer. 
In May 2019, MSS then proposed to offer those M-346s to the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) as a stopgap to cover a shortfall of T-38s until the T-7A became available, Nichols says. 
It was during a presentation about the stopgap proposal to AETC that MSS first learned about the ACC’s RFI for the RFX, Nichols says. 
After MSS proposed the M-346, the ACC’s requirements changed. 
The ACC dropped the requirement for a supersonic aircraft, calling instead for an aircraft that can achieve a closing speed with another of the same type of aircraft at 1,100 kt. 
Two M-346s can achieve a closing speed of 1,400 kt., Nichols says, so subsonic speed was no longer a disqualifying factor for the ACC. 
But the ACC later added a new requirement: the RFX aircraft must be ready to carry a radar. 
South Korea operates a version of the T-50 with the Israel Aerospace Industries EL/M-2022 radar, so that aircraft remains eligible for Project Reforge. 
Leonardo is still in the process of qualifying its Grifo radar on the M-346, Nichols says. 
But the radar integration for the M-346FA requires engineering changes that are not retrofittable to the white-tail aircraft available to MSS, Nichols says. 
Based on the radar requirement, the ACC decided in January to disqualify all other aircraft except the T-50s offered by Hillwood Aviation, whose chairman is Michael Moseley, former head of the ACC and Air Force chief of staff. 
“The T-50 provides the advanced displays, training systems and active radar needed for the RFX. The M-346 variant provides advanced displays and training systems needed for the RFX but does not have an active radar at this time, and the timeline for incorporating one was unknown. Therefore, only the T-50 meets the basic requirements for the RFX,” an ACC spokesperson explained to Aviation Week. 
A representative for Hillwood Aviation declined to comment. 
The ACC notified industry in January that it intends to award a sole-source contract to Hillwood Aviation’s T-50s for the RFX requirement. 
The late addition of the radar requirement for the RFX surprised and baffled MSS, Nichols says. 
“The radar was just an attempt to justify a sole-source award to the T-50 - that’s the way it appeared,” Nichols says. 
“[It was] the fact that they never talked to us to say, ‘Do you guys have a radar?’”
Although the ACC says the radar integration schedule for the M-346 is “unknown,” Nichols says that MSS offered to provide Grifo-equipped M-346s for the RFX within 12 months of contract signing. 
Nichols, an industry participant in the Air Force’s search for a T-38 replacement for a decade, suspects the original supersonic requirement for the RFX speaks to an internal desire within pockets of the ACC for a trainer with greater speed than the M-346 offers. 
“You still have factions within the Air Force that are looking for a high-performance aircraft for a trainer aircraft, and the T-50 scratches that itch,” Nichols says. 
The ACC notified industry of the decision to award a sole-source contract to Hillwood Aviation in January but has taken no further action since then. 
In the interim, MSS has intensified its efforts to reverse the decision, enlisting congressional supporters to lobby the ACC and launching a media campaign focused on advertising the capabilities of the M-346 for the RFX requirement, Nichols says. 
In order to win the award, MSS is seeking to pressure the ACC to drop the requirement for an active radar in the RFX fleet. 
In Nichols’ view, the radar is unnecessary because the M-346’s embedded training system is designed to emulate all of the sensors, including radars, on the Air Force’s fleet of operational fighters. 
MSS’ proposed M-346 aircraft comes equipped with Elbit’s embedded training system, which Boeing also selected for the T-7A, Nichols says. 
MSS’ proposal is based on an agreement with a third-party financier, which will acquire the white-tails and provide them to MSS for the RFX, Nichols says. 
He declined to identify the financier. 
Once the five-year validation project is completed, MSS has an agreement with another operator to continue using the aircraft, Nichols says. 
The aircraft can provide a broad range of services, including advanced pilot training and adversary air contract services, he says. 
“We believe that there’s a market” for the M-346 white-tails, Nichols says. 
“Whether it is doing pilot training, [adversary] air or supporting international air forces, we will find a way to keep our service going here in the States.”

 + >>>>> 

[TT-1 Pinto]

Ne parla anche FlightGlobal ...

... https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/us-air-force-looks-to-rent-t-x-contest-losers-to-prepare-for-boeing-t-7a/137416.article ...

[engine]

Visto  che l'USAF  vuole  un  aereo  per  OCU, a questo  punto  converrebbe  proporre  una  versione  adattata  del M346 FA  ( es. : con  radar ) .

[meravigliato]

In merito al contratto rtx ho trovato questa 

https://govtribe.com/opportunity/federal-contract-opportunity/reforge-project-fa489020r0011

Nello specifico:

"The capability for embedded (synthetic) training system or the ability to install one without lapse or disruption of service within 1 year"

Sembrerebbe lasciare spazio al M-346.

 

[TT-1 Pinto]

L'ha dunque spuntata il Koreano?

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The Air Force is planning to lease between four and eight T-50A trainers made by Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries to teach pilots fighter skills, ahead of beginning training in new Boeing T-7A Red Hawks, The Korea Herald reported (*).
The T-50A was the T-7A’s top competitor in the T-X contest won by Boeing in September 2018. 
The first T-7As are expected to arrive in squadron strength in 2023.
According to the Herald, the jets will be sold to Hillwood Aviation, which will then lease the aircraft to the Air Force.

... airforcemag.com ... Air Force to Lease T-50A Trainers Ahead of T-7As ...

(*) ... KAI to lease trainer jets to US despite losing contract to Boeing ...

+>>>>>>>>>>

[meravigliato]

Credo non ci sia stata mai competizione. Era già stato scelto il T-50 poi MSS ha cercato di inserirsi facendo un po' di casino.

[TT-1 Pinto]

Il sistema di addestramento a terra del T-7A ha superato la revisione critica di progettazione ...

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The Ground-Based Training System that goes with the T-7A Red Hawk advanced jet trainer has passed its Critical Design Review, concluding 18 months of development work and paving the way for fabrication of simulators and other devices, Boeing announced April 3.
The Air Force reviewed the T-7A’s “ability to conduct live, virtual, and constructive training exercises, through dynamic motion-enabled trainer cockpits; high resolution projection systems; digital debrief stations and simulated avionics; as well as egress training that will better prepare pilots for escaping an aircraft during an emergency,” Boeing said. 
The CDR took five days to complete.

... airforcemag.com ... T-7A Ground Training System Passes Critical Design Review ...

[TT-1 Pinto]

T-7A ... ci sono novità ... e non da FlightGlobal ... 

... wpafb.af.mil ... https://www.wpafb.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2212717/t-7a-red-hawk-achieves-another-design-goal/ ...

[Flaggy]

Francamente la scelta di motorizzare un velivolo nuovo con un motore fin troppo maturo come l’F404 non mi è del tutto chiara, considerando che la clientela e quindi lo standard produttivo sono più orientati all’F414, che con un BPR maggiore dovrebbe anche avere un consumo specifico inferiore.

Mi pare che, a parte il concorrente coreano T-50, (che certo non brilla per modernità) non ci siano velivoli in produzione corrente con a bordo il motore degli F-18 di prima generazione (oggi in fase di progressivo e inesorabile ritiro). Tejas e Gripen  sono passati all’F414, fermo restando che le loro evoluzioni avevano effettivamente bisogno di un po’ di spinta in più rispetto a un semplice e più leggero addestratore.

Ciononostante, con pesi e ingombri sostanzialmente invariati, se la spinta dell’F414 fosse stata giudicata eccessiva, si sarebbe anche potuto pensare a una taratura inferiore, con conseguente aumento della durata e dell’affidabilità, mantenendo un notevole potenziale di crescita e una migliore disponibilità di ricambistica, oggi moderna e allo stato dell’arte: in un’ottica di lungo periodo queste sono qualità particolarmente apprezzate in un monomotore che ha ambizioni "light combat” o “fighter attack”.

https://www.portaledifesa.it/index~phppag,3_id,3629.html

Modificato 11 Giugno 2020 da Flaggy

[FrancescoBaracca]

8 ore fa, Flaggy ha scritto:

Mi pare che, a parte il concorrente coreano T-50, (che certo non brilla per modernità) non ci siano velivoli in produzione corrente con a bordo il motore degli F-18 di prima generazione (oggi in fase di progressivo e inesorabile ritiro). Tejas e Gripen  sono passati all’F414, fermo restando che le loro evoluzioni avevano effettivamente bisogno di un po’ di spinta in più rispetto a un semplice e più leggero addestratore.

Forse ormai che il T-X è stato vinto da Boeing è OT, ma come mai dici che il T-50 non brilla per modernità?

[Flaggy]

Nulla di drammatico ma… quanto a originalità della velatura sembra un F-16 pantografato (e non a caso visto che gli ingegneri KAI si son fatti le ossa con la produzione su licenza dell’F-16).

Poi, a parte il motore “maturo”, è dotato di un fly-by-wire a tripla ridondanza laddove anche il nostro M346 lo ha quadricanale (sebbene per ironia della sorte non gli sia servito quando, prima che ci si mettesse una toppa, un guasto elettrico si era portato via tutti e quattro i canali non fisicamente separati come sui velivoli da combattimento).

[TT-1 Pinto]

T-7 Red Hawk ... l' Air Force punta ora a un nuovo piano di addestramento ...

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The Air Force will test a new fighter pilot training plan designed to fix deficiencies and reduce the time needed to transform a raw student pilot into a fighter flight lead from 40 to as few as 22 months.
The new concept of operations exploits the in-jet simulation capability of the new T-7 Red Hawk, paired with ground-based virtual reality and artificial intelligence to accelerate student progress.
Called “Rebuilding the Forge,” or “Reforge” for short, the new CONOPS was signed on June 2 by Gen. Mike Holmes, head of Air Combat Command. 
If tests are successful, it will lead to the most radical transformation of USAF fighter pilot training since the 1950s, according to its authors. 
The switch to dual-track, Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training in the 1980s was a far less dramatic restructure, they said.

... airforcemag.com ... ACC Aims to Cut Pilot Training Time By Up to Half ...

[meravigliato]

Sembra che i giochi si siano riaperti per il programma RFX con aumento dei velivoli a 11 esemplari.

https://www.defensenews.com/2020/06/25/air-force-considers-leasing-losing-t-x-training-jets/

Mi sembravano molto convinti sul T-50 e mi chiedo se questo ripensamento sia una cosa veramente spontanea o indotta da pressioni esterne.

[TT-1 Pinto]

Ancora una volta gli Americani dimostrano di essere maestri nell'arte di complicare le cose ... magari buttando al vento una barcata di soldi ...

Comunque sia ... andrà a finire che prenderanno il T-50 ... per il semplice motivo che, più o meno dietro le quinte, il velivolo sud-coreano ha uno sponsor che si chiama ... Lockheed Martin ...

[meravigliato]

"M-346s carry the same Elbit Systems embedded training technology that will be installed on Boeing’s T-7A fleet, and MSS believes that should make a requirement for active sensors on RFX redundant".

https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/rfx-contract-revives-usaf-hopes-losing-t-x-aircraft

MSS tira acqua al suo mulino.

[engine]

9 ore fa, TT-1 Pinto ha scritto:

Ancora una volta gli Americani dimostrano di essere maestri nell'arte di complicare le cose ... magari buttando al vento una barcata di soldi ...

Comunque sia ... andrà a finire che prenderanno il T-50 ... per il semplice motivo che, più o meno dietro le quinte, il velivolo sud-coreano ha uno sponsor che si chiama ... Lockheed Martin ...

Come se gli americani non avessero problemi nella gestione della flotta attuale ( F-22 , F-35 , B-1 e lo Stratodinosauro B-52 ... )

[Flaggy]

Sinceramente noi in Italia siamo più chiari: se vogliamo dare una commessa a Leonardo, gliela diamo senza inventarci concorsi col vincitore già designato.

[meravigliato]

https://www.airforcemag.com/acc-aims-to-cut-pilot-training-time-by-up-to-half/

"The Air Force will test a new fighter pilot training plan designed to fix deficiencies and reduce the time needed to transform a raw student pilot into a fighter flight lead from 40 to as few as 22 months.

...

According to the F-22 community, they’re spending 60-70 percent of their sorties” teaching their new pilots basic skills and upgrades, Timm said in an interview. “Teaching those skills sooner, with an advanced trainer, you’re able to save 50 percent of the training days; or 60 percent of the F-22 sorties that we allocate for training in an FTU, and squadrons can use that money to focus on combat training.

...

Holmes “wants to prove this, and not wait until the T-7 gets produced,” Schneider said. “Renting eight airplanes … is a cost that was not planned for in the POM,” or Program Objective Memoranda budget document, but it has support “at the four-star level.” Getting on contract and conducting the RFX is the “next step” in Reforge, he said.

...

Because pilots today aren’t getting the same operational hours flown even 15 years ago, “they don’t have as much air time or experience when they get to a combat unit,” he added. This also impedes them as they move up. “If you haven’t been a flight lead, your next assignment options are extremely limited,” Schneider said, saying Reforge “attacks” this problem, and the hope is that solving it also will help retention by reducing career frustration.

Tante belle speranze.

Forse troppe.

Modificato 8 Luglio 2020 da meravigliato

[TT-1 Pinto]

T-7A Red Hawk ... Boeing comunica alla stampa che i collaudi sui due esemplari sino ad ora prodotti hanno raggiunto la quota dell'80% ...

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The Boeing-Saab T-7A Red Hawk advanced trainer is making progress despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with 80 percent of developmental testing complete and the first engineering and manufacturing development aircraft under construction, Boeing officials reported July 14.
“We’ve had over 200 flights with our two test aircraft,” which sometimes fly multiple times a day, Thomas Breckenridge, company vice president for international sales, told reporters on a media call. 
Boeing does not call the jets prototypes, because they were built on production tooling, but the eventual production aircraft will be somewhat different than the initial version.

... airforcemag.com ... Boeing Says T-7 Developmental Testing 80 Percent Complete ...

[TT-1 Pinto]

Guarda, mamma ... a testa in giù ... 

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Proving out the Boeing T-7A Advanced Trainer in its first inverted flights, Boeing Test & Evaluation pilots Matt Giese and William Berryman are the first to take the agile trainer, developed for the U.S. Air Force, through a rugged series of maneuvers to test the jet’s fuel system at all angles.

... boeing.com ... Upside down…all-around ...

[TT-1 Pinto]

Secondo FlightGlobal ...

Quote

Boeing responds to Australian trainer RFI with T-7 information ...
By Greg Waldron - 30 July 2020

Boeing says it has responded to Australia’s request for information (RFI) related to acquiring a replacement for the BAE Systems Hawk 127.
“The T-7, which is scalable, interoperable and configurable, is ideally suited to address the Royal Australian Air Force’s [RAAF’s] next-generation frontline fast-jet aircraft training requirements,” says Boeing.
“The advanced pilot training system features a low-risk, leading-edge, live, virtual and constructive, fifth-generation aircrew training environment,” the company adds.
Canberra issued the RFI for its Project Air 6002 Phase 1 future Lead-In Fighter Training System (LIFTS) in June.
Following the RFI, BAE, Boeing and Leonardo all confirmed that they were interested in the requirement. 
Korea Aerospace Industries said at the time that it was reviewing the request.
“No other training system in the world today will better develop the skills required to operate the RAAF’s most advanced frontline aircraft like the [Boeing] F/A-18 Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler and the [Lockheed Martin] F-35,” says Chuck Dabundo, vice-president of T-7 programmes at Boeing.
The company adds that the T-7 training system includes the aircraft and ground-based equipment including simulators and debriefing stations.
Boeing also promoted the T-7 at the 2019 Avalon Airshow near Melbourne.
The T-7A Red Hawk emerged victorious in a long-running competition to replace the venerable Northrop T-38 in US Air Force service. 
The deal will see Boeing provide 351 examples valued at up to $9.2 billion.
Cirium fleets data shows that the RAAF operates 33 Hawk 127s.