USAF Flies the T-7A Red Hawk for the First Time, Glimpse of Test Shows Impressive Aircraft

It was only last week when Boeing let us know the airplane completed taxi tests, meaning the bird proved it could safely move on the ground, and this week an even more exciting development was announced: the first-ever test flight of the Red Hawk at the hands of U.S. Air Force (USAF) pilots.

The milestone was achieved on June 28, 2023, and involved one of five engineering and manufacturing development aircraft Boeing has put together. The inaugural flight of the aircraft was handed to USAF Maj. Bryce Turner from the 416th Test Squadron, who was accompanied in the cockpit of the plane by Steve Schmidt, Boeing T-7 chief test pilot.

We're not told where the flight took place, but we do know it was overseen by the Air Force Air Education and Training Command. It lasted for one hour and three minutes, and was aimed at validating "key aspects of the aircraft."

Taking advantage of the occasion, Boeing spilled more beans on a plane that's supposed to become the next USAF pilot trainer, replacing the aging T-38 Talon.

We already knew the plane is powered by a General Electric turbofan engine good for 17,000 lbf of thrust with the afterburner, and that it can reach a top speed of over 800 mph (1,300 kph) and an altitude of 50,000 feet (15,000 meters).

But those are only general specs, and we had little idea of what the plane would do for the pilots training to fly fighter jets. Now, thanks to a number of new details, that picture is a bit more complete.

The Red Hawk works in conjunction with high-resolution ground-based training systems and simulators, and that get make airmen better prepared for when they first set foot in the T-7A.

The plane is, naturally, digital and fly-by-wire, and has the ability not only to train future fighter jet pilots, but also bomber crews. Because it has an open architecture software, new capabilities could be added later on, when technology progresses and new skills and techniques need to be taught.

From a safety standpoint, the Red Hawk is equipped with one of the most modern ejection seats around, the ACES 5 system put together by Collins Aerospace. It is, as per Boeing, the safest egress system of any trainer.

Now that the first test flight was performed, a flood of others will follow, using all five planes made by Boeing for this phase of the project. Once testing is complete, the company will start rolling off assembly lines a total of 351 such airplanes, and 46 matching simulators.

To have them all made, Boeing received back in 2018 a $9.2 billion contract from the Air Force.

Money well, spent, it seems, as despite just 36 months passing from concept to first test flight (that means assembly time was cut by 80 percent), the airplane seems like a very solid piece of tech. And there's a glimpse of that in the short video below.