T-X programma ... the new trainer ... or next light multi-roll fighter ?

Gestart door Harald, 06/06/2016 | 10:41 uur


Harald


Sparkplug

US Air Force releases final T-X trainer RFP

30 December, 2016 | SOURCE: Flightglobal Pro | BY: Leigh Giangreco | Washington DC

T-X contenders are off to the races today, after the US Air Force released its much anticipated final request for proposals for the T-38 trainer replacement programme.

The $16.3 billion RFP encompasses a total of 350 aircraft, including delivery of the initial five test aircraft, contract options for LRIP lots 1 and 2 and full-rate production of lots 3 through 11.

The USAF is expected to award the contract in 2017 and reach initial operational capability by the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2024, the service says in a 30 December statement.

The final RFP did not change course from the air force's draft version released in July, which proposed millions of dollars in incentives for contractors who bring forth a trainer aircraft that exceeds the service's outlined performance requirements.

Contractors who offer a trainer with higher sustained G and maneuvering, as well as lower turn-around time, would receive reductions to their total evaluated price. Competitors would receive a $13.2 million decrement to its price for every 0.1G above the threshold of 6.5Gs, and $4.4 million for every 0.1G above 7.0G. The service set a 7.5G ceiling with a maximum $88 million price reduction, according to the draft RFP.

Competition for the T-X programme has been heating up all year, with Boeing's extravagant T-X rollout in September and more recent media days from Lockheed and Raytheon this December. Four competitors will face off for the T-X competition. Boeing and Northrop Grumman have each put forth clean-sheet designs, while Lockheed has opted for the existing T-50A and Raytheon has chosen the the T-100 based on M346 twin-jet design.

With the exception of looming nuclear recapitalisation, the USAF has bitten off most of major acquisition programmes with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the B-21 bomber. That makes those 350 aircraft all the more enticing to competitors. A T-X win could provide a boost for Boeing, which has faltered in the fighter jet market in recent years.

For the USAF, the T-X competition also represents what the service hopes to be a turning point in defense acquisition. The air force spoke with industry for several months before releasing the final RFP, a move that could prevent the kind of contentious protests the service saw following the B-21 bomber contract award.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/us-air-force-releases-final-t-x-trainer-rfp-432824/
A fighter without a gun . . . is like an airplane without a wing.

-- Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF.

Ace1

Het kan aan mij liggen maar vindt de Boeing / SAAB TX trainer veel lijken op het Flygsystem 2020.



http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2015/11/idn-take-obscure-stealth-fighter.html


Harald

Boeing/SAAB T-X trainer - first flight     ( .. mooi toestel trouwens ..)




Sparkplug

Boeing and Saab complete first T-X flight

20 December, 2016 | SOURCE: Flightglobal.com | BY: Leigh Giangreco | Washington DC

Boeing and Saab's bid for the US Air Force trainer competition took flight from St. Louis, Missouri, on 20 December, demonstrating the clean-sheet design jet's performance for the first time.

During a 55min flight, the twin-engine jet climbed close to 11,000ft and reached speeds up to 230kt, Steve Schmidt, lead T-X test pilot told, reporters Tuesday. Boeing will persevere through the chilly Missouri winter to gather flight performance data for the T-X competition, which the company must deliver by 30 June 2017.

"I think our biggest challenge is we're in St. Louis in the wintertime," Schmidt says. "Other than that, we can get the data we need in the time allotted to submit a proposal. We've had time to plan for it and can execute it."

For both Boeing and Saab, the quick turnaround from design to flight for a production jet is rare, according to Boeing T-X program manager Ted Torgerson. Typically, a company could spend six to eight years developing a jet. With T-X, the team cut that timeline in half.

"We made a commitment to design, develop and fly by the end of 2016 and today we delivered on that promise," Torgerson says. "At this time last year, we were in critical design review. So we went from CDR to first flight in 12 months."



Boeing and Saab first revealed its T-X contender to much fanfare in September. The team designed two jets, the second of which is completing ground testing and should fly by early 2017, according to Boeing. The trainer system also includes ground-based trainers and simulation.

The twin, canted tail aircraft is powered by a single 17,700lb-thrust GE Aviation F404-GE-402 with afterburner. The aft cockpit of the two-seater is stepped up to allow the second pilot improved visibility, Torgerson says. The stadium seating is an improved feature from the legacy T-38, he says.

"When we interviewed a lot of instructors flying the current T-38 they didn't like the current visibility to look at the aimpoint on landing," he says. "Now you can see the aim point over the pilot's head."

The team is gunning for the coveted air force contract, which would replaced the service's fleet of more than 400 Northrop T-38s. T-X is slated to reach initial operational capability by 2024 and Boeing estimates the air force will release its final request for proposal by 30 December.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/boeing-and-saab-complete-first-t-x-flight-432611/
A fighter without a gun . . . is like an airplane without a wing.

-- Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF.

Jooop

Sierra Nevada Corp./TAI Team To Offer Freedom Trainer For T-X
Dec 16, 2016 James Drew | Aviation Week & Space Technology

Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) are betting that the U.S. Air Force is seeking a fuel-efficient advanced pilot trainer to succeed the outdated Northrop T-38 Talon, like the one the companies plan to offer. With the spotlight shining on the major primes until now, the two businesses have quietly set up shop in Centennial, Colorado, as Freedom Aircraft Ventures LLC, to develop a lightweight, all-composite trainer powered by two business jet-class ...



http://aviationweek.com/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/uploads/2016/12/16/DF-FREEDOMTRAINER_SierraNevadaCorp.jpg

Harald

Media Days and Mason Jars: Defense Contractors Promote T-X Offerings as Competition Heats Up

WASHINGTON — Just weeks or perhaps days before the final T-X request for proposals drops, defense contractors are pulling out all the stops to ramp up enthusiasm for their offerings.

With the US Air Force's top three aircraft priorities — the F-35 joint strike fighter, B-21 bomber and KC-46 refueling tanker — all under contract, the T-X trainer is the service's last big aircraft competition on the horizon. Unless a new contender enters the ring, the battle will boil down to two clean-sheet designs — from Northrop Grumman and a Boeing-Saab team — versus two existing airframes put forward by prime contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

The message from the defense firms offering existing designs: "We're ready."

..../....

voor gehele artikel, zie onderstaande LINK
http://www.defensenews.com/articles/media-days-and-mason-jars-defense-contractors-promote-t-x-offerings-as-competition-heats-up

Harald

Boeing T-X Headed Toward First Flight

The Boeing-Saab T-X trainer is on track to fly by the end of the year after completing afterburner engine runs last week, Boeing officials said. 

Only a few more major tests remain before the plane makes its inaugural flight, said program manager Ted Torgerson during a Nov. 23 interview ahead of Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC).

"We are clicking off all of our test points, we have tested around somewhere around nearly 1,200 test points on the jet on ground tests," he said.

The next test involves putting the plane, engine running, through the motions of a flight — takeoff, climb and landing — with the aircraft tied down to the runway, Torgerson said. The company will also check how the airplane responds to simulated system failures. After that, a Boeing-Saab board will clear the aircraft for flight, and the Federal Aviation Administration will certify it. Finally, the company will conduct low, medium and high speed taxi tests before flying the jet.

"We're looking to fly soon, before the year is over" Tom Conard, the company's T-X capture team leader, reiterated during a Tuesday briefing at I/ITSEC. "And as we're preparing that jet to fly, our flight crews are training in the training system devices to prepare them exactly what they're going to see in the jet."

.../...

"We're going to meet all the requirements and growth provisions for the future," Conard said. "It has no radar, it has no weapons, it is not doing anything except advanced fast jet training."

Asked whether Boeing plans on incorporating such features for potential opportunities currently under discussion by the Air Force — such as an exercise of light attack aircraft that could inform a program of record, or a proposal to hire industry to play the aggressor role in training exercises — Conard demurred.

"We'll look at that after we win T-X," he said. "We've got to win T-X, and then from there we will able to adapt and work in future variants. And I'll leave it at that."

http://www.defensenews.com/articles/boeing-t-x-headed-toward-first-flight

Sparkplug

Raytheon, Leonardo Tackle 'Disagreement' Over T-X Bid

Lara Seligman and James Drew | Aerospace Daily & Defense Report | Oct 11, 2016



As the U.S. Air Force prepares to officially kick off the competition for a next-generation T-X trainer, partners Raytheon and Leonardo have run into an eleventh-hour snag in their joint bid for the lucrative 350-aircraft contract.

Raytheon and Leonardo recently had a "disagreement" over certain details in the arrangement, a source familiar with the competition told Aviation Week. Spokesmen for both Raytheon and Leonardo declined to comment on the nature of the disagreement, simply saying the two companies "continue to negotiate" on the final terms of their proposed T-X, the T-100 trainer aircraft.

Although officials would not confirm the details of the ongoing negotiations, it is possible the discussions involve the workshare agreement between the two companies. Raytheon was not originally part of the bid—Leonardo was initially teamed with General Dynamics on the T-100, which is based on Leonardo's existing M-346 trainer design. But General Dynamics withdrew from the bid in March 2015, leaving Leonardo without a crucial U.S. prime contractor. Raytheon announced it was joining the T-100 bid in February.

Under the current teaming arrangement, Raytheon is the prime contractor, while Leonardo will provide the airframe, CAE will design and manufacture simulation equipment, training systems and courseware, and Honeywell Aerospace will provide the aircraft's twin F124 turbofan engines. If selected, the T-100 will be built, tested and fielded in the U.S., company officials have said. But the team still has not chosen a facility for the project.

It is unlikely Leonardo will back out of the competition. Winning the T-X contest is key to Leonardo's ambitions of expanding its footprint into the U.S. aerospace market, Giovanni Soccodato, Leonardo's executive vice president for strategy, marketing and business development, said in a July interview. The two-seat M-346 will give the Air Force the best bang for its buck, Soccodato said, noting that it is already in use with the Israeli, Italian, Polish and Singapore air forces.

"We believe it is really the best value for money, not just the cost of the aircraft, but if you look at the whole of the training capability," Soccodato said. "The reduced time that pilots have to fly on real aircraft and the cost of flying the trainer rather than flying the fighter aircraft, it will be a much more effective and much cheaper, in the end, solution to deliver fifth-generation training."

It is also possible the disagreement is over concerns that the T-100 may not be able to meet the Air Force's stringent performance requirements for T-X, including a maximum g-capability of 8, a sustained g-capability of at least 6.5 and a minimum 20-deg. angle of attack. The Raytheon-Leonardo team has argued the T-100's twin engines offer a safety advantage for student pilots over single-engine aircraft. But the F124 is not as powerful as General Electric's F404, used by all three of the other competitors: both Northrop Grumman's and Boeing-Saab's clean-sheet proposals, as well as Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries' T-50A.

As Raytheon and Leonardo hammer out the details, any delay in formalizing a teaming arrangement could unnerve key suppliers Honeywell and CAE, which are supporting the bid.

The Honeywell F124 turbofan engines are currently produced by the Honeywell/International Turbine Engine Company in Taiwan. But victory for the T-100 would mean turning the lights back on at Honeywell's site in Phoenix, where the F124 was assembled for Israel's Master training fleet up until this year. The F124 and its after-burning derivative, the F125, power the Czech-built Aero L-159 Alca and Taiwanese AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo light combat aircraft.

As the powerplant provider, Honeywell could build as many as 700 new engines in the U.S. if the T-100 is chosen for T-X, and perhaps many more engines if the T-100 attracts international sales or spawns a light-attack derivative. If you count the U.S.-assembled engine and proposed cockpit avionics and large-area display, the T-100 already has significant U.S. content—almost 50% according to Leonardo. The type will also need a boom refueling port or adapter installed.

Meanwhile, CAE has been supplying full-mission simulators for the M-346 since the type's inception, and it has high hopes of winning big under the Raytheon-Leonardo banner to supply the T-X's all-important Ground-Based Training System, which blends live, virtual and constructive elements. If the Raytheon-Leonardo team falls apart, CAE would become a free agent and might seek a last-minute partnership with the other competitors in the race: Boeing, Lockheed or Northrop. It could also compete for future training requirements.

The Canadian firm has faced uphill battles in the past around politicking over foreign ownership and parochial interests to win many important contracts with the U.S. government, and likely feels comfortable partnering on a foreign-made aircraft. The company supplies either flight simulator hardware, training services or both for the Lockheed C-5M, C-130J, KC-130J, P-3C, Sikorsky MH-60R, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9, MQ-1, Airbus UH-72A Lakota, Boeing P-8A, E-3 and KC-135, among others. But many of those projects pale in comparison to the T-X opportunity because of the size of the base order and significant overseas sales interest.

"We understand Raytheon and Leonardo continue to negotiate on terms that would allow the T-100 team to deliver a comprehensive training solution that meets the requirements of the Air Force," a company spokesman said on Oct. 11. "CAE is ready to contribute its proven ground-based training system expertise and experience to a T-100 integrated air training system."

At the T-100 announcement in Washington, CAE Group President Gene Colabatistto said the T-100 would be "very, very competitive," even when pitted against clean-sheet alternatives being offered by Boeing and Northrop. In terms of Raytheon's credibility as a prime contractor, Colabatistto pointed to the company's production of the T-1 Jayhawk and T-6 Texan II through what is now known as Beechcraft, the Wichita-based light aircraft manufacturer now owned by Textron.

The Air Force plans to release the final request for proposals for T-X in December and anticipates a contract award by December 2017. Initial operating capability is expected in 2024. The Air Force will not be able to fully replace all of its aging T-38 trainers with the all 350 new T-X aircraft until 2034—otherwise known as full operational capability—due to budget constraints.

http://aviationweek.com/defense/raytheon-leonardo-tackle-disagreement-over-t-x-bid
A fighter without a gun . . . is like an airplane without a wing.

-- Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF.

Micheltje

60 F35 en een stuk of 30 van deze toestellen erbij en je hebt een goede start

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Citaat van: Micheltje op 16/09/2016 | 14:44 uur
Idd het kan op de langere termijn veel schelen

Zeker als je als uitgangspunt hanteert: aanschaf is 30% van de totale kostenpost over een periode van 30 jaar.

Micheltje

Citaat van: jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter) op 16/09/2016 | 08:44 uur
Een dergelijke aankoop kost geld maar over de exploitatie periode bespaard het aanzienlijk. Zodra lucht-lucht en grond-lucht dreigingen de kop zijn ingedrukt kunnen de F35's weer naar huis - of een aantal van deze - waarna de  fighter-trainer in veel gevallen afdoende zal blijken te zijn.

Idd het kan op de langere termijn veel schelen

Sparkplug

Citaat van: JdL op 16/09/2016 | 07:45 uur
Wel snel een fighter-trainer variant ontwikkelen graag.

Dan moet de Boeing/Saab kandidaat wel eerst de T-X competitie winnen. Vanuit die positie is het voor hen gemakkelijker om iets extra's te gaan ontwikkelen. Wel blijft het bij vijf ophangpunten voor bewapening en zal een eventuele all-weather radarsysteem (als dat mogelijk is) extra gaan kosten.

Het wordt interessant of de Europese landen in de VS zullen blijven voor de gevorderde vliegopleiding of dat men overstapt naar een Europees initiatief zoals de Italiaanse vliegopleiding met de T-346.
A fighter without a gun . . . is like an airplane without a wing.

-- Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF.

JdL

Citaat van: jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter) op 16/09/2016 | 08:44 uur
Een dergelijke aankoop kost geld maar over de exploitatie periode bespaard het aanzienlijk. Zodra lucht-lucht en grond-lucht dreigingen de kop zijn ingedrukt kunnen de F35's weer naar huis - of een aantal van deze - waarna de  fighter-trainer in veel gevallen afdoende zal blijken te zijn.
+1
'The goal is world peace, and to do so you must have strength' Ronald Reagan