Search begins for T-45 replacement

As part of its new Undergraduate Jet Training System program, the U.S. Navy wants a non-developmental, land-based jet trainer aircraft capable of field carrier landing practice and nuclear aircraft carrier touch-and-go landings by at least 2028, according to a Request For Information posted by Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), for a jet aircraft to perform some aspects of land- and ship-based carrier training, online on May 14. The Navy wants a two-pilot aircraft with ejection seats; and able to be flown from either cockpit. The Navy wants an aircraft that can integrate advanced technologies; and an automatic ground collision avoidance system. The aircraft is to have a flight life of at least 14,400 hours and be able to sustain 43,200 carrier (or simulated) landings. The service does not plan to conduct arrested landings or catapult launches using the jet trainer. That differs from the T-45, which conducts carrier landings and launches. Likely competitors for the trainer would likely be Boeing-Saab's T-7A; Lockheed Martin’s T-50A; and Leonardo’s T-100. The T-45 is a variant of the 1970s British Aerospace Hawk, developed jointly for the Navy by McDonnell Douglas and British Aerospace. Boeing acquired the program in 1997 when it merged with McDonnell Douglas. (Source: Flight Global 05/15/20) Gulf Coast Note: Goshawks are flown by Training Squadron (VT) 7 and VT-9 within Training Air Wing (TW) One based at Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss.; and TW-6's VT-4, VT-10, and VT-86 squadrons based at NAS Pensacola, Fla. VT-86 teaches Navy / Marine Corps student Naval Flight Officer (NFO) Advanced Strike Aircraft Training. https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/us-navy-begins-search-for-next-jet-trainer-to-replace-t-45-goshawk/138400.article