Ramona Adams
Boeing and Saab have conducted the first flight test of a trainer aircraft the companies jointly developed for the U.S. Air Force‘s T-XÂ competition.
Boeing said Tuesday lead T-X test pilot Steven Schmidt and Air Force chief pilot Dan Draeger flew the aircraft for approximately 55 minutes to demonstrate key aspects of the single-engine jet as well as its low-risk design.
The Air Force released capability requirements for the T-X program in March 2015 as part of a program to replace current T-38 aircraft.
Other industry teams pursuing the T-X contract include Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries; General Dynamics and Alenia Aermacchi; Textron and AirLand Enterprises; and a consortium of Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and L-3 Communications.
Schmidt and Draeger trained for the flight through Boeing’s T-X system that includes ground-based training and simulation.
The Boeing-Saab team unveiled its first two T-X aircraft in September and the second platform currently undergoes ground tests ahead of a scheduled flight in 2017.
