Deliveries In 2026 As Testing Progresses To Field Operational Level

Boeing and the U.S. Air Force have agreed to adjust aspects of the T-7A Red Hawk jet training aircraft to meet the operational needs of the Air Education Training Command’s (AETC), and to deliver in 2026 four “Production Representative Test Vehicles” (PRTVs).

The T-7A is intended to replace the aging fleet of Northrop T-38 Talon trainers, and this adjustment to the production will provide the AETC with aircraft to further develop and expedite its training curriculum to achieve a timely initial operational capability (IOC) for the aircraft.

The contract with Boeing is for a total of 350 T-7A operational aircraft to be delivered in 10 fixed-price lots.

Andrew Hunter, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics said, “Acquisition programs cannot be stagnant, even when they are fixed-price. This is why I’ve directed the T-7A team to implement updates to reduce risk and increase our confidence in the aircraft design, all to ensure we can deliver the T-7A to the warfighter when needed.

“These acquisition updates include expanding test capacity, enabling the start of AETC’s curriculum development activities, and using a management approach which incentivizes Boeing to address emergent issues that were not part of the contract that was signed in 2018 and to accelerate elements of the program.

Hunter continued, “Procuring these PRTVs in FY25 also allows the Air Force and Boeing to improve manufacturing readiness prior to entering the production phase for the entire run of over 350 T-7As. Decreasing overlap between development, testing, and production lowers the likelihood of potential costly retrofits of a significant number of aircraft.”

He also added that this adjusted timeline would result in the award for Lot 1 production aircraft in calendar year 2026, and the projected delivery of the PRTVs and Lot 1 aircraft would preserve the AETC’s goal of 2027 for IOC.

FMI:  www.af.mil/