Raytheon and Finmeccanica officials, talking up their new partnership offering the T-100 trainer for USAF’s T-X competition, said the aircraft is already plumbed for aerial refueling. However, it is equipped for Navy-style probe-and-drogue re?fueling, and USAF wants a boom-type refueling receptacle. A company officials said, “We know where [the receptacle] will go, but for competitive reasons” he wouldn’t discuss it. Lockheed Martin resorted to a pronounced hump on its T-50A development of the Korean Aerospace Industries T-50 to meet the refueling requirement. Raytheon officials said they are reviewing “several” locations in the US where they would assemble the T-100 if it wins the T-X contract, asserting that its US content would be similar to that of the F-35 fighter. The T-100 would be powered by two Honeywell F124 engines and will have a large single-piece cockpit display, though not necessarily the same one used in the F-35. A Finmeccanica official said the jet is capable of supersonic flight “in a dive” but is not equipped with afterburners. Along with Honeywell and Finmeccanica, CAE USA, Inc., which does modeling and simulation work, is partnered on Raytheon’s T-100 team.
Top Lawmakers Want 15 Percent Pay Raise for Enlisted Troops
April 19, 2024
A new law introduced by Congress would raise the pay rate 15 percent for junior enlisted troops and seek improvements on a range of quality of life issues, such as pay and compensation, child care, housing, health care access, and military spouse employment.