Posted on 09/13/2016 9:50:06 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Boeing unveiled the first prototype of its trainer aircraft for U.S. Air Force T-X advanced pilot trainer program co-developed with the Saab.
The aircraft was rolled out from Boeing's facility in St.Louis, Missouri were the F/A-18 and F-15 fighters are assembled.
The clean sheet design will be offered to replace the 55 year old Northrop Grumman T-38 fleet operated by USAF for pilot training.
The aircraft features anhedral wings and tail fin with side mounted engine air intakes. What makes the Boeing's T-X design unique from the other three competitors is the twin canted tail plane.
Other competitors in the program include the Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.
Northrop and Boeing are offering clean sheet designs while the other two are pitting pre-existing designs. Northrop's design was revealed during high speed taxi trials in Mojave in August, who have partnered with BAE Systems and L-3 for the bid.
Lockheed Martin is offering a modified version of the T-50 fighter co-developed with South Korean KAI, while Raytheon partnering Honeywell and CAE is offering the Italian Leonardo M-346 trainer as the T-100.
Final assembly of theses T-X trainers will be shifted to U.S. from South Korea and Italy respectively if Lockheed/Raytheon's bid wins.
Around 500 Talons are to replaced with the new T-X trainers, which will train USAF's fifth generation fighter pilots.
Except the T-100, all the other three T-X trainers are powered by a single GE F404 after-burning turbofan engine with around 80 kN thrust.
Well, not so sure that the “full area control surfaces on the tail” are necessary for supersonic flight but it looks more like the F-16 than the F-16 itself.
I flew an airplane in the Ohio ANG, the F-84F, that was “supersonic.” The limiting Mach was 1.1...and achieved in a dive. The airplane had full area horizontal stabilizers but really a fighter-bomber, not an air superiority fighter like the F-15.
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