The new T-X trainer’s requirements don’t call for it to be used as a future “Aggressor”-type aircraft, Air Education and Training Command requirements chief Brig. Gen. Dawn Dunlop told Air Force Magazine. Dunlop said AETC has incorporated into T-X the requirements of USAF major commands that now use the T-38 as a “companion trainer;” a function it performs for the B-2 and F-22 communities, but “we are not buying … a companion trainer.” When new companion trainers are required, the T-X should meet those needs, she said. AETC is “focusing on the advanced training” needs of the service for fighter/bomber pilots and not a future “Red Air” role for the jet. At this time, “there is no requirement for an Aggressor-type aircraft,” she added. That said, “I hope we have built into our requirements the adaptability” that would allow the T-X to be applied to other, “future missions.” Also, while the foreign military sales potential of the aircraft is not among program requirements, Dunlop said there is a strong international market for such an aircraft, which is likely one of the reasons industry is so keenly interested in T-X.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
