Jane Edwards
Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries have introduced the T-50A training jet that they plan to offer to the U.S. Air Force as part of the upcoming competition for the T-X trainer aircraft program.
Lockheed and KAI built the trainer aircraft in an effort to replace the service branch’s fleet of T-38 planes, Lockheed said Thursday.
Rob Weiss, executive vice president and general manager at Lockheed’s Skunk Works business, noted that the T-50A is now production ready.
Lockheed also announced that its 227-acre operations site in Greenville, South Carolina, will serve as its final assembly and checkout facility to produce the new jet trainer.
The company’s Greenville facility has 8,000 feet of runway, 13 hangars and 1.2 million square feet of covered space.
The T-X program was launched as part of the Air Force’s Bending the Cost Curve acquisition initiative.
