The House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) draft version of the committee’s fiscal 2024 defense authorization bill, H.R. 2670, asks U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall to provide HASC by March 1 next year with options to accelerate procurement and fielding of the Boeing [BA] T-7A Red Hawk trainer, which is in the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase to replace the T-38C.
Boeing and its teammate Saab in 2018 won the potential $9.2 billion contract for up to 351 T-7As. The program schedule had called for a production decision in late 2023 and achievement of initial operating capability with 14 planes in March 2026. The Air Force is projecting a nearly yearlong delay in IOC by January 2027.
An en bloc amendment by Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) to H.R. 2670 said that a shortage of General Electric [GE] J85 engines has curtailed T-38C availability.
“Three years of delays for procurement of the Air Force’s new fighter trainer, the T-7 Red Hawk, amplifies the impact of the J85 engine shortage as the Air Force is compelled to continue to rely upon the T-38 as the Air Force awaits the arrival of the new training aircraft,” the amendment said. “Consequently with the T-7’s expected delivery rate, the Air Force will continue reliance upon the T-38 in pilot training for the foreseeable future.”
“The T-38’s aging airframe, especially its General Electric J85 turbojet engines, requires significant maintenance, and spare parts are becoming increasingly difficult to procure,” per Jackson’s amendment. “The committee notes that in May 2020, the Air Force switched from performing organically sourced engine maintenance on T-38 engines to relying upon contractor logistics and maintenance support for performing full overhauls. The committee is concerned that in recent years T-38 sorties have declined due to a lack of serviceable J85 engines. Problems with spare parts and limited fiscal resources have created a maintenance backlog preventing aircraft from flying, thereby constraining the number of pilots the Air Force can produce, and thus exacerbating its current pilot shortage.”
Jackson’s amendment asks Kendall to brief HASC by Jan. 31 next year on T-38 and J85 availability to include “impacts of the T-7 program’s delays on the lifespan of the T-38 fleet.”
GE’s F404 is the powerplant for the T-7.
Boeing said last month that it has five EMD aircraft in production and is targeting the third quarter of 2024 for a decision to move into low-rate production (Defense Daily, May 26).