The T-50A advanced jet trainer developed jointly by Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) successfully completed its first f...
The T-50A advanced jet trainer developed jointly by Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) successfully completed its first flight test on Thursday.
The trainer is being developed to compete in U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Pilot Training competition to replace its fleet of vintage F-5 trainer jets with a fifth generation trainer.
The maiden flight of the T-50A configured aircraft was carried out from Sachenon, South Korea, which lasted 50 minutes and was jointly piloted by KAI's chief test pilot Lee Dong-gyu and Lockheed Martin T-50A lead test pilot Mark Ward.
“The aircraft in its new configuration with the 5th Gen cockpit and other upgrades performed flawlessly,” said Mark Ward, Lockheed Martin T-50A lead test pilot, after his flight in Sacheon, South Korea.
“I have no doubt this aircraft will close the gap which currently exists between the trainer fleet and 5th Generation fighters.”
The T-50A is low risk and ready now. It builds on the proven heritage of the T-50 with more than 100 T-50s flying today—100,000 flight hours and counting—and more than 1,000 pilots trained.
Lockheed claims the T-50A is the only contestant that meets all APT requirements on schedule and at the lowest risk to the customer.
Lockheed Martin teams studied clean-sheet alternatives and determined they pose prohibitive risk to APT cost and schedule requirements. The T-50A delivers the performance and capabilities needed to prepare pilots to fly, fight and win with 5th Generation fighter aircraft.
Lockheed Martin is currently standing up its T-50A Final Assembly and Checkout site in Greenville, South Carolina.
The accompanying T-50A Ground-Based Training System features innovative technologies that deliver an immersive, synchronized ground-based training platform.
Boeing has partnered with Swedish Saab to develop a clean -sheet design for the APT competition. Italian Leonardo (ex-Alenia Aermacchi) has partnered with Raytheon to offer an advanced variant of its M-346 trainer. Northrop is also developing a clean sheet design.
The trainer is being developed to compete in U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Pilot Training competition to replace its fleet of vintage F-5 trainer jets with a fifth generation trainer.
The maiden flight of the T-50A configured aircraft was carried out from Sachenon, South Korea, which lasted 50 minutes and was jointly piloted by KAI's chief test pilot Lee Dong-gyu and Lockheed Martin T-50A lead test pilot Mark Ward.
“The aircraft in its new configuration with the 5th Gen cockpit and other upgrades performed flawlessly,” said Mark Ward, Lockheed Martin T-50A lead test pilot, after his flight in Sacheon, South Korea.
“I have no doubt this aircraft will close the gap which currently exists between the trainer fleet and 5th Generation fighters.”
The T-50A is low risk and ready now. It builds on the proven heritage of the T-50 with more than 100 T-50s flying today—100,000 flight hours and counting—and more than 1,000 pilots trained.
Lockheed claims the T-50A is the only contestant that meets all APT requirements on schedule and at the lowest risk to the customer.
Lockheed Martin teams studied clean-sheet alternatives and determined they pose prohibitive risk to APT cost and schedule requirements. The T-50A delivers the performance and capabilities needed to prepare pilots to fly, fight and win with 5th Generation fighter aircraft.
Lockheed Martin is currently standing up its T-50A Final Assembly and Checkout site in Greenville, South Carolina.
The accompanying T-50A Ground-Based Training System features innovative technologies that deliver an immersive, synchronized ground-based training platform.
Boeing has partnered with Swedish Saab to develop a clean -sheet design for the APT competition. Italian Leonardo (ex-Alenia Aermacchi) has partnered with Raytheon to offer an advanced variant of its M-346 trainer. Northrop is also developing a clean sheet design.
