The Air Force finalized its T-X trainer requirements and intends to share them with industry by the end of the month, service Secretary Deborah James said Friday.
The service expects to release a T-X request for proposals (RFP) in late fiscal year 2016, she said. T-X is Air Force’s highly-anticipated effort to replace its aging T-38 trainers. The aircraft will be used to teach undergraduate pilots and introduction to fighter fundamentals courses. The service plans on acquiring 350 new aircraft.
James said the Air Force will use its T-X acquisition as a test case in its cost-capability analysis approach. The service intends to make well-informed judgments, she said, about whether various incremental increases in capability are worth it from a cost perspective.
“Industry will know, when the time comes, how much we value these different capabilities,” James told an audience at the Air Force Association’s (AFA) air warfare symposium in Orlando, Fla.
James outlined the new approach in mid-January, saying the Air Force should be able to use it to identify instances where small capability changes can have a large impact on cost. James gave as an example in mid-January if the Air Force has a requirement for a jet to fly 500 mph, but can achieve significant cost savings by amending this to 450 mph, officials may use the information to make tradeoffs in how it develops the RFP and evaluation factors, according to a Defense Department statement.
In addition to T-X, the Air Force is aiming the cost-capability analysis approach to three other programs: Long-Range Standoff (LRSO), the Multi-Adaptive Podded System (MAPS) and the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) follow-on. The cost-capability analysis approach is one of a handful of new Air Force efforts recently unveiled to improve how the service acquires weapon programs. The Air Force is pursuing a program called “bending the cost curve,” which is designed to help the service partner with industry, encourage innovation and drive down the cost of systems.
The Air Force requested $12 million in its FY ’16 budget request, but it expects its request to ramp up to as much as $408 million in FY ’19, according to the service’s budget justification book. Teal Group Vice President of Analysis Richard Aboulafia said Friday the T-X award could be worth around $8.8 billion for 350 planes at roughly $25 million each. Aboulafia added the contract could be worth potentially much more if exports, support and a naval version of T-X are added onto the deal.
Contractors continue to jockey and position for T-X. Northrop Grumman [NOC] last week announced it was scrapping its original plan of offering a non-developmental item of partner BAE Systems’ Hawk advanced jet trainer system (AJTS) in favor of an aircraft designed from scratch. Northrop Grumman is also now offering a General Electric [GE] engine instead of a Rolls-Royce product. Northrop Grumman also plans on flying a prototype this year (Defense Daily, Feb. 6).
Other known bidders for T-X include: Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Korea Aerospace offering the T-50; CAE USA; General Dynamics [GD] and Alenia Aermacchi; and prime contractor Boeing [BA] with primary partner Saab AB pitching a clean sheet approach.
Initial operational capability is anticipated for the fourth quarter of FY ’23 with full operational capability (FOC) in, or around, FY ’30 (Defense Daily, Nov. 19). Alenia Aermacchi is a division of Finmeccanica.