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2019-11-14

T-7A RED HAWK America’s New Advanced Trainer

The T-X, the U.S. Air Force’s all-new advanced trainer aircraft, has been officially named the T-7A Red Hawk. Featuring an American/Swedish advanced pilot training system, the Red Hawk will train the next generation of pilots for decades to come.

After a short video highlighting the aircraft’s lineage, Acting Secretary of the United States Air Force, Matthew Donovan, unveiled the name and livery during his speech at the 2019 Air Force Association’s Air, Space, and Cyber Conference, on 16th September.

Donovan proclaimed, “Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the newest Red Tail! The name Red Hawk honours the legacy of Tuskegee Airmen and pays homage to their signature red-tailed aircraft from World War II.”

According to Donovan, “The name is also a tribute to the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, first flown in 1938 by the 99th Fighter Squadron, the U.S. Army Air Forces’ first African American fighter squadron.” Certainly, the Tuskegee Airmen subsequently painted their Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and North American P-51 Mustangs with a red-tailed paint scheme.

Donovan was joined on stage by one of the original Tuskegee Airmen, Col. Charles McGee, who flew more than 400 combat missions in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, while the audience also included members of the East Coast Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen. The Red Hawk will replace the Air Force’s aging T-38 aircraft with initial operating capability planned for 2024.

Red Hawk’s Background

In December 2013, Boeing and Saab formed a partnership to develop a purpose-built trainer for the USAF Advanced Pilot Training (APT) programme. Saab and Boeing designed, developed and flight-tested two all-new purpose-built jets to validate the system’s design and repeatability in manufacturing and training capability.

The single-engine, twin-tail, stadium-seating trainer was unveiled on 13th September 2016 at Boeing’s facility in St. Louis, Missouri. According to Boeing, the purpose-built trainer was designed from the ground up to include the Ground-Based Training System and support, where parts of the aircraft were manufactured in Sweden and final assembly took place in St. Louis.

On 27th September 2018, the United States Air Force (USAF) awarded the Boeing Company a US$ 9.2bn contract to procure 351 Advanced Pilot Training (APT T-X) aircraft and 46 Ground-Based Training Systems (GBTS) to replace their fleet of T-38C jet trainers. The Air Force had originally valued the contract at approximately US$ 19.7bn.

The award may also include up to 120 GBTS, with the USAF estimating that by 2031, 60 per cent of all combat air forces will be fifth-generation aircraft. It is hence necessary that the air force acquire a modern aircraft to train future fighter and bomber pilots.

Design Characteristics

The T-7A Red Hawk has one engine and twin tails with an advanced cockpit for embedded training, slats and big leading-edge root extensions that provide deft handling at low speeds. It can thus fly in a way that better approximates real world demands, specifically designed to prepare pilots for fifth-generation aircraft.

The T-7A is the cornerstone of the complete advanced pilot training system, with state-of-the-art ground-based training and a maintenance friendly design for long-term supportability. The clean-sheet approach integrates the latest technology, tools and manufacturing techniques, creating a more affordable and flexible option than older existing aircraft.

The system is also designed to evolve with changing technology, missions and training. The aircraft’s single engine hence generates nearly three times more thrust than the dual engines of the old T-38C Talon.

Fighter-like design and performance: With twin tails, GE F404 engine, high G and high angle-of-attack capability, the Red Hawk is intended to perform like fighter aircraft. The twin tails provide excellent control, inherent speed-break functionality and safer air refueling, with a design visually similar to current fighters and offering improved stability to enhance training.

Stadium seating: JPATS 1-7 is compatible with outstanding visibility because stadium seating allows for ideal instructor positioning and visibility for flight instruction and training. Moreover, JPATS 1-7 compliant seating allows a wider range of individuals to train and instruct.

Maintenance-friendly design: High wings, easy access panels and easy reach enable the T-7A Red Hawk design to focus on accessibility, fewer fasteners and readiness of engine and seats. It is also designed around common U.S. Air Force ground equipment with established suppliers reducing supply chain complexity.

Advanced cockpit: Clean, intuitive and reconfigurable to allow students and instructors a maximum range of training options with modern avionics.

Designed-in safety: Stable, student- and instructor-friendly T-7A platform offers fly-by-wire flight controls, ample thrust and excellent handling at all speeds, configurations and high angle-of-attack.

Real-as-it-gets simulation: The complete advanced pilot training solution provides interactive classroom lessons, computer-based training modules and adaptive training, while the T-7A adjusts to students’ needs by offering a complete suite of instructor tools for optimum results on the ground and in the ‘classroom in the sky’.

Radically Improved Engine

T-7A is powered by a GE F404 engine, offering higher power, improved fuel efficiency and superior mission capability. The F404 engine family facilitates missions ranging from low-level subsonic attack to high-altitude interception, proving its versatility daily as it powers front-line fighters globally.

Home Grown Suppliers

More than 90 per cent of the T-7A is made in America, supporting 17,000 jobs in 34 states across the country. Moreover, Saab will base its manufacturing in America with suppliers that include General Electric and Triumph.

Elbit Systems of America will provide several key components including large area displays, engine fuel indicators, upfront control panels, Head Up Displays and their associated line replaceable units. In addition, the company will supply air and ground datalinks enabling the T-7’s onboard virtual avionics and the Integrated Live/Virtual/Constructive capability.

This cutting-edge capability enables the T-7A to simulate the advanced avionics, sensors and weapons utilised by 5th generation fighters like the F-22 and F-35. These mechanics enable T-7A pilots to operate those systems virtually independently while flying the lower cost-to-operate T-7A aircraft.

Collins Aerospace Systems provides key power and controls systems for the T-7A trainer, including the aircraft’s Power Take Off (PTO) shaft, Auxiliary Power Engine Control Unit (APECU), engine start system and the Main Electric Power Generation System (MEPGS). Moreover, Collins Aerospace will supply its ACES 5 ejection seat to Boeing for the U.S. Air Force contract, along with the platform’s fully integrated landing gear system.

Collins Aerospace has been manufacturing PTO shafts since the 1950s and is a leader in the industry, with its shafts on many U.S. and allied nations’ fighter jets and bombers. They are used to transmit power from the engine to the Aircraft Mounted Accessory Drive Gearbox with Collins Aerospace’s PTO shaft for the T-7A, most notable for being constructed with state-of-the-art diaphragm flexures intended to provide high reliability with no required maintenance.

Collins Aerospace’s APECU is a full-authority advanced electronic controller that controls, monitors and diagnoses all phases of auxiliary power and engine start system operation. The controller also transmits fault and maintenance information to the aircraft systems through redundant communication buses.

Collins Aerospace’s engine start system includes a Starter Control Valve and Air Turbine Starter that converts the pneumatic power supplied by the APU and controlled by the starter control valve into mechanical shaft horsepower to start the engine. In addition, the MEPGS will feature Collins Aerospace’s proven integrated drive generator and digital controls technology in order to deliver highly reliable constant frequency power.

Faster and Better

The first T-7A aircraft and simulators are scheduled to arrive at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas in 2023, with all undergraduate pilot training bases eventually transitioning from the T-38C to the T-7A.

“The distance between the T-38 and an F-35 is night and day,” confirms Air Force Chief of Staff General David L. Goldfein. “But with the T-7A the distance is much, much smaller, and that’s important because it means the pilots trained on it will be that much better, that much faster at a time when we must be able to train to the speed of the threat.”

Based on the requirements set forth in the USAF’s RFP, the T-7A may shift training from Field Training Units where expensive fifth-generation aircraft are used as less expensive trainer aircraft. Furthermore, the higher fidelity GBTS could improve training for student pilots and move many tasks from aerial flight training into simulators.

“We are humbled to honour the legacy of the legendary Red Tail squadrons through production of the T-7A Red Hawk,” said Steve Parker, Vice-President of Boeing Advanced Pilot Training System. “The T-7A and the ground-based training system demonstrate a new level of performance in flight training to prepare the pilots of tomorrow.”

In recent months, Boeing’s T-7A programme has accomplished several significant milestones, including the first official Engineering and Manufacturing Development flight test, the aircraft’s 100th flight and the completion of aircraft critical design review. Hence, the T-7A Red Hawk Advanced Pilot Training System is designed to evolve with the need of technologies, missions and training for change. Future generations of U.S. Air Force pilots will be instructed using this all-new advanced pilot training system.

Reference Text/Photo:www.boeing.com,www.collinsaerospace.com,www.af.mil,www.saabgroup.com

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