T-X will replace T-38 for training

WASHINGTON - The Air Force announced Feb. 21 that the Advanced Pilot Trainer (T-X) will replace T-38C Talon aircraft at existing undergraduate pilot training bases. Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, was initially named as the preferred location for the first T-X aircraft scheduled to arrive in 2022. The other locations include Columbus Air Force Base, Miss.; Laughlin AFB and Sheppard AFB in Texas; and Vance AFB, Okla. Current pilot training installations rely on unique runway structures and special-use airspace capable of supporting high volume pilot training which makes them ideal for the new aircraft. The T-X trainer will provide student-pilots with the skills and competencies required to transition into 4th and 5th generation fighters. Basing the T-X at JB San Antonio-Randolph first, home to AF’s instructor-pilot training, is an essential step to establishing a T-X instructor pilot pipeline, and sets the conditions to transition to T-X training at those other training locations. The AF will now begin the required environmental analyses at all existing undergraduate pilot locations. The AF is expected to award a contract for the new aircraft this year. The first is expected to arrive at JB San Antonio-Randolph as early as 2022. (Source: Secretary of the Air Force 02/21/18) The first of two T-38s arrived at Tyndall AFB, Fla., in 2011. The Air Education and Training Command uses T-38Cs to prepare pilots for front-line fighter and bomber aircraft training against F-15E Strike Eagle, F-15C Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, B-1B Lancer, A-10 Thunderbolt, and F-22 Raptors. Tyndall has the largest contingent of F-22s in the Air Force. Advanced joint training students at Columbus AFB, Miss., fly T-38s in aerobatics, formation, night, instrument, and cross-country navigation during training. Prior to the arrival of T-38s to Tyndall AFB, the fifth-generation F-22s have had train in advanced simulators and acting as aggressors during training sorties.