The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are planning to acquire T-X trainer aircraft to replace the T-45 Goshawk trainer and F-5 simulator currently deployed by both service branches, Defense News reported Tuesday. A Boeing-Saab team secured a potential $9.2 billion contract to produce a maximum of 475 T-X aircraft and 120 simulators for the U.S. Air Force in 2018.Â
“We’re watching the T-X. Obviously the Air Force is going through that process,†said Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder, the Marine Corps’ deputy commandant for aviation, during the Sea-Air-Space conference in Maryland.
Boeing is slated to supply the first T-X simulators to the Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in Texas by 2023 ahead of a potential declaration of the first operational T-X squadron in fiscal 2024. The Navy intends to complete its purchase of helicopter trainers as Boeing continues to produce and deliver T-X aircraft to the Air Force.