Anticipating USAF will soon move out on its planned replacement of the T-38 jet trainer, BAE Systems announced Monday at AFA’s Air & Space Conference it would partner with Northrop Grumman in an exclusive team to bid on the proposed T-X. Northrop was the original equipment manufacturer of the T-38 Talon, and coupled with the training expertise built up in BAE’s Hawk tactical jet trainer, the team brings a formidable amount of experience to bear, said BAE Systems Executive Vice President for Services Sector Larry Prior. BAE has delivered more than 2,500 advanced jet trainers around the world. Northrop will act as the manufacturing lead for the T-X program. The team is offering a fully tailored training family of systems, integrating all aspects of instruction, from desktop simulators to classrooms to mobile devices and finally the two-seat Hawk Advanced Jet Training System itself, said BAE’s Bob Wood, the T-X campaign lead. With the multitude of missions anticipated for F-22 and F-35 pilots in the future, from electronic attack to strike, pilots will be asked to do much more than their fourth generation predecessors, and the Hawk AJTS is designed to train fifth generation pilots in a fifth generation environment, he added. (BAE Hawk T-X site)
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
