Northrop T-X Prototype Spotted in Mojave

link.

Russia Will Continue to Support Development of the SR-10/CP-10 Trainer

The Russian Ministry of Defense had a meeting last month to discuss the future of the SR-10 forward-swept-wing jet trainer and it was decided that the state will continue to provide scientific and technical support.

link.

USAF Considering Expanding T-X Role to A-10 Replacement, Aggressor

The US Air Force is considering expanding the scope of its T-X trainer requirement to include the role of an aggressor aircraft or potentially as a replacement for its Fairchild Dornier A-10 Warthogs.

Although the service is yet to issue a formal request for proposals on T-X, USAF officials have expressed interest in using the aircraft to fulfill the close air support mission of the A-10 replacement, also known as AT-X, said Dan Darnell, vice-president of strategic initiatives at Raytheon, speaking at the show on Tuesday.

link.

Russian AF Supposedly Testing SR-10 Trainer

more info.

US Air Force Admites F-35 too Expensive for A-10 Role, Considering Options Including Using T-X Deriv

The US Air Force has begun studying future close air support (CAS) aircraft to succeed the Fairchild Republic A-10 as the Pentagon evaluates the weaponry it needs for “prolonged operations” of one year or more.

The flying branch is looking at tactical air support platform alternatives for low-intensity “permissive conflict” like counterterrorism and regional stability operations, similar to the types of missions being conducted Iraq and Afghanistan today, where air superiority has been achieved and coalition aircraft can roam relatively freely in support of ground troops.

USAF officials say a portion of a "combat air force study” is dedicated to considering alternative CAS aircraft: everything from the Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine, Sierra Nevada/Embraer A-29 Super Tucano, and the Textron AirLand Scorpion on the “low end” of the capability spectrum to more sophisticated clean-sheet attack aircraft or AT-X derivatives of the planned T-X next-generation trainer.

The study comes as the air force “re-phases” its retirement of the hardy A-10 "Warthog" that currently serves in the role. It has pushed back the fleet’s divestiture from this fiscal year to “between 2018 and 2022” at cost imposition of $3.4 billion.

Service officials admit that despite being an ideal close air support platform in high-end conflict with Russia, the long-delayed A-10 replacement, the Lockheed Martin F-35, will be too expensive to operate in the Warthog’s day-to-day role.

link.

Flight Video of the Russian Forward Swept Wing Trainer Aircraft, the SR-10

The Race for the US Air Force T-X Trainer Contract

If 2015 was the year of the bomber, the US Air Force’s requirement for a next-generation fighter trainer will be one of the hottest games in town in 2016.

With four – maybe five – industry teams poised to pounce on a request for proposals due out in the fourth quarter, the multi-billion dollar opportunity to replace the venerable T-38 Talon will reveal clean-sheet aircraft from Northrop Grumman and Boeing/Saab, and also maybe from Lockheed Martin; despite the company’s ties to the T-50-based Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) bid.

The USAF’s massaging of T-X performance needs has already seen Textron rule out offering its Scorpion, and question marks hang over the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 (offered as T-100) and BAE Systems Hawk.

It’s impossible to predict how the competition will shake out, but the need for 350 advanced trainers to prepare pilots to fly the Lockheed F-22 and F-35 will surely throw up surprises.

link.

Did Russia's Su-52 Forward Swept Wing Trainer Just have its First Flight?

A video has surfaced online showing what appears to be first flight of a Russian jet-powered trainer with forward-swept wings.

The video uploaded on 30 December is not dated but the title of the file name includes a sequence of numbers – 20151225 – that suggest it was taken on Christmas day.

It shows an aircraft performing a low pass over an isolated Russian landing strip with its landing gear still down.

Though not identified, the aircraft in the video bears a strong resemblance to the Sukhoi Su-52 design, which proposed a two-seat trainer to support the Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut, a forward swept-wing fighter project cancelled to make way for a stealthy adaptation of the Su-27 as the Russian Air Force launched the PAK FA programme.

link.

A “Slightly” Outdated Northrop Grumman’s T-X Advanced Trainer Looks a lot Like an Updated T-38

A private unveiling of a “slightly” outdated Northrop Grumman’s T-X advanced trainer model reveals an unmistakeable likeness with the T-38 Talon and a strategic focus on cost control to win the hotly-contested US Air Force competition.

Northrop plans to publicly unveil and fly an internally funded prototype of the company’s T-X trainer concept early next year. Offering a sneak-peek to journalists on 10 December, Tom Vice, president of Northrop’s Aerospace Systems sector, appeared visibly conflicted over whether he should give away key features of the concept up to the last concept.

In the end, he decided to lift the veil on the model, but not allow pictures. The aircraft unveiled early next year at Northrop’s flight test base in Mojave, California, will include small changes, he adds.

“When you’re in Mojave and see the final design you’ll see a slightly different airplane,” Vice says, “but this will give you a good indication of where we’re heading.”

The model revealed a low-winged trainer with cheek-mounted fan inlets, an area-ruled fuselage, a structural chine running backward from the nose and a conventional single tail. Comparisons to the existing T-38 design were unavoidable, a fact acknowledged by Kevin Mickey, vice-president of advanced design at Northrop.

link.