The Air Force is expected to go to the Defense Acquisition Board this summer with a plan to buy as many as 500 new advanced T-X trainer aircraft to replace the T-38, according to service and industry officials. The service would like the first batch of new trainers to go operational in late 2017. A recent analysis of alternatives suggested that an off-the-shelf trainer, rather than a clean-sheet design or yet another T-38 life extension, was the right way to go, said the officials. Michael Griswold, Lockheed Martin business development director for the Lockheed Martin-Korea Aerospace Industries T-50 trainer, said USAF hasn’t decided yet exactly how many trainers it wants, as it is deciding how many ancillary missions the new aircraft would fulfill (e.g., lead-in fighter training, aggressor training). Griswold said Lockheed would offer the T-50 trainer, which it helped KAI design and which bears a resemblance to the F-16. South Korea has already built 70 T-50s, is building 20 TA-50 lightly armed versions, and is close to signing up for 60 F/A-50 more capable combat versions, he said. Lockheed is shopping for a US facility where it would build the aircraft.
Active-Duty Airmen only have a few days left to submit an official waist-to-height ratio into the Air Force’s new online application. But the service clarified July 23 that this first body composition measurement is not meant to be scored as part of the new Physical Fitness Readiness Assessment, or PFRA