Photo: Boeing
Come 2024, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) will begin replacing its aging fleet of T-38 Talons. In the air since the early 1960s, the aircraft has been the backbone of the USAF pilot training programs, but at 60 years old, the plane is fast becoming obsolete.
Its place in the sky will be taken by something called T-7A Red Hawk, an airplane being put together by American aerospace giant Boeing. The military handed the company a $9.2 billion contract to eventually deliver a total of 351 jet trainers.
As usually is the case with such things, Boeing will not be making the plane alone, and will use various subcontractors for some of the Red Hawk’s systems. The mission-management processors, for instance, will be supplied by defense contractor L3Harris under a $91.5 million contract announced this week.
These particular processors (also used on the F-35 and F/A-18) are the brains that allow the planes to “collate multiple data streams” and feed the pilots with easier-to-understand data, thus increasing to the max “battlespace awareness.”
Capable of “connecting internal and external data networks and link video feeds to flight displays,” the tech should also make possible “specific simulations for pilots undergoing training.”
“L3Harris mission-management processors are key to the T-7A Red Hawk’s mission of training the next generation of Air Force pilots,” added in a statement Ed Zoiss, President, Space and Airborne Systems, L3Harris. “The processors deliver technology the Air Force can rely upon to bolster pilot readiness.”
For engine, the plane uses a General Electric turbofan unit rated at 17,000 lbf (76 kN) of thrust when using the afterburner.
The name chose for the trainer, as well as the name of the flying machine were chosen in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen, a unit of mostly African American pilots who flew Curtiss P-40 Warhawks during the Second World War.
As usually is the case with such things, Boeing will not be making the plane alone, and will use various subcontractors for some of the Red Hawk’s systems. The mission-management processors, for instance, will be supplied by defense contractor L3Harris under a $91.5 million contract announced this week.
These particular processors (also used on the F-35 and F/A-18) are the brains that allow the planes to “collate multiple data streams” and feed the pilots with easier-to-understand data, thus increasing to the max “battlespace awareness.”
Capable of “connecting internal and external data networks and link video feeds to flight displays,” the tech should also make possible “specific simulations for pilots undergoing training.”
“L3Harris mission-management processors are key to the T-7A Red Hawk’s mission of training the next generation of Air Force pilots,” added in a statement Ed Zoiss, President, Space and Airborne Systems, L3Harris. “The processors deliver technology the Air Force can rely upon to bolster pilot readiness.”
For engine, the plane uses a General Electric turbofan unit rated at 17,000 lbf (76 kN) of thrust when using the afterburner.
The name chose for the trainer, as well as the name of the flying machine were chosen in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen, a unit of mostly African American pilots who flew Curtiss P-40 Warhawks during the Second World War.
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