Finmeccanica’s Alenia Aermacchi is in talks with an unspecified new potential prime partner in its bid for the Air Force’s T-X trainer program, the company said Friday.
Alenia’s former prime partner on T-X, General Dynamics [GD], said Thursday it would discontinue pursuing T-X as a prime contractor. The two companies were offering Alenia’s T-100.
A General Dynamics Mission Systems spokesperson said Friday in an email General Dynamics Information Systems and Technology decided to discontinue its pursuit of T-X as a prime contractor when the company finalized its reorganization on Jan. 1. The T-X requirements released last week, the spokesperson said, did not influence the company’s decision and the company is still evaluating its options for a role in the T-X program.
General Dynamics spokeswoman Carol Smith said Friday that when the program was an off-the-shelf airplane, the company believed that its program management skills provided added value to the customer. However, Smith said, as the program moved from off-the-shelf to a more engineered trainer, General Dynamics no longer believed that value proposition existed.
Alenia spokesman Stefano Somma said Friday in an email the company was not surprised by the announcement. Somma said Alenia is fully committed to the North American market and, based on a first analysis, believes it is compliant with the Air Force’s T-X requirements. Somma didn’t respond when asked how long the company was talking to a potential new prime partner, nor any firms with which it was in discussions.
The Air Force recently released its requirements for T-X: sustained G, simulator visual acuity and performance and aircraft sustainment. The service said there are just over 100 requirements, but these are the most critical.
Contractor teams are in flux as companies position themselves for T-X, which is estimated to be worth around $8.8 billion for 350 aircraft. Northrop Grumman [NOC] said in February it would offer a new design instead of the non-developmental item (NDI) it previously put forward (Defense Daily, Feb. 6). Northrop Grumman is serving as prime with subcontractors BAE Systems and L-3 Communications [LLL] for its T-X pursuit. Northrop Grumman and BAE traded prime/sub roles last summer with Northrop Grumman taking over as prime contractor for T-X (Defense Daily, July 7).
Other expected T-X competitors include: Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Korea Aerospace offering the T-50; CAE USA and prime contractor Boeing [BA] with primary partner Saab AB pitching a clean sheet approach.
Defense News first reported General Dynamics would not longer serve as prime for a T-X bid.