combat aircraft

aspiration to hit 7.5g — this is considered
su cient to ensure students can operate
at 9g in a front-line  ghter. Simulator
visual acuity and performance, together
with aircraft sustainment, were all
major factors. The requirement called
for embedded training with synthetic
sensors and a datalink. Other capabilities
included the need for in- ight refueling
(the aircraft must be at least adaptable to
being  tted with an aerial refueling kit,
but built-in capability is preferred), a 10
per cent reduction in fuel usage over the
T-38, and a minimum take-o distance of
8,000ft, plus crosswind limits of 25kt in
the dry and 20kt in the wet.
The T-X also needed ‘switchology’ for
the simulated release of both air-to-air
and air-to-ground weapons, and must be
able to carry a weapon systems support
pod and a travel pod. The cockpits feature
wide-area displays and are compatible
with night vision goggles.

Winning on cost
Boeing and Saab were able to speci cally
tailor the aircraft’s design to winning.
The clean-sheet approach allowed them
to use the latest technology, tools and

manufacturing techniques to bring

the price down. The Lockheed Martin

and Leonardo o erings ought to have

enjoyed a signi cant advantage, making

use of existing designs and development

work with their o -the-shelf trainers.

Boeing was still able to come in far,

far cheaper.

Everyone knew cost was going to be a

de ning factor — this was the  rst major

acquisition program under the USAF’s so-

called ‘Bending the Cost Curve’ initiative.

The procurement included 351 new

trainers within a budget that was as much

as $19 billion. Boeing’s winning contract

was worth $9.2 billion — it had shaved

a whopping $10 billion o the original

T-X cost estimate. US Air Force Secretary

Heather Wilson said in a press release,

‘Through competition we will save at least

$10 billion on the T-X program.’ Boeing will

absorb all the risk on the contract too.

An initial $813-million contract will

see Boeing building and delivering  ve

aircraft and seven simulators, which will

be delivered to Joint Base San Antonio-

Randolph, Texas, from 2023. Two batches

of low-rate initial production (LRIP)

aircraft and eight of full-rate production

examples will follow. The USAF currently

plans initial operational capability (IOC)

by the end of  scal year 2024 when the

 rst squadron and simulators are all

available for training.

Today’s announcement is the

culmination of years of unwavering

focus by the Boeing and Saab team

Leanne Caret, Boeing

Left: Boeing and

Saab’s fi rst BTX-1

trainer prototype,

which wears the

civil registration

N381TX, fl ew

for the fi rst

time when it

took off from

Lambert-St Louis

International

Airport, Missouri,

for its maiden

fl ight on

December 20,

2016. Boeing
      Above right:
      The design of the
      aircraft suggests
      impressive agility,
      which may allow
      Boeing to exceed
      the baseline USAF
      performance
      requirements. The
      company worked
      hard to stress the
      low risks attached
      to its aircraft
      despite its lack of
      maturity.

http://www.combataircraft.net // December 2018 43