The U.S. Air Force has published a set of capability requirements for the military service’s future T-X trainer aircraft, Defense News reported Friday.Aaron Mehta writes USAF’s top-level trainer specifications call for sustained G, simulator visual acuity and performance and aircraft sustainment.
Other system requirements include aerial refueling, a 10-knot tailwind, a density altitude of 7, 400 feet and 10 percent lower fuel consumption than the existing T-38 platform.
A Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)–Korea Aerospace Industries team will propose a variant of KAI’s T-50 and T-100 jets, while a General Dynamics (NYSE: GD)-Alenia Aermacchi alliance will offer a version of the Italian company’s M-346 plane, according to Defense News.
Mehta says the joint venture of Textron (NYSE: TXT) and AirLand Enterprises plan to incorporate the Scorpion ISR aircraft design into their trainer offering for the Air Force.
A Boeing (NYSE: BA)-Saab partnership and a Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC)-led consortium that includes BAE Systems and L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) are also pursuing the T-X program.
The T-X will mark the first Air Force acquisition under the service’s Bending the Cost Curve procurement initiative, according to the report.
