T-X ADVANCED TRAINER PROGRAMME

The US Air Force’s T-X advanced trainer programme is one of the biggest deals in the military aircraft market in the near future with the Air Force planning to buy 350 advanced jet trainers to replace its fleet of Northrop T-38Cs. In addition, the winning T-X aircraft will also have a global market. While the T-X programme has drawn considerable interest from aircraft manufacturers, the line-up of contenders has changed in recent weeks. Leonardo had teamed with Raytheon to field the T-100, a version of the former’s M-346 advanced trainer, but the US company withdrew from the competition in January 2017. Thus Leonardo is now evaluating its options, including whether to proceed with the bid on its own or perhaps find another US partner. The twin-engine T-100 is powered by Honeywell F124 turbofan engines. Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems had teamed up to jointly propose a cleansheet design known as the Model 400. However, the two companies have now opted not to pursue the T-X contract. Meanwhile, Korea Aerospace Industries

(KAI) is partnered with Lockheed Martin to propose the T-50A, a variant of KAI’s T-50 trainer. Lockheed Martin assisted in the development of the original T-50. Two T-50A development aircraft are currently in flight-testing phase with the maiden flight undertaken in June 2016. Boeing and Saab are jointly proposing an allnew design for the T-X programme. The two companies have already built two of the new aircraft and unveiled them in September 2016. A clean-sheet design is also being proposed by Coloradobased Freedom Aircraft Ventures LLC, a joint venture of Sierra Nevada Corp and Turkish Aerospace Industries. Dubbed as the Freedom Trainer, the twin-tail, swept-wing aircraft is powered by a pair of Williams FJ44-4M turbofan engines. Contract award for the T-X programme may occur in the second half of 2017 or early 2018.