Northrop Takes The Lead From BAE On $11B T-X Trainer

[unhappycamper]

http://breakingdefense.com/2014/07/northrop-takes-the-lead-from-bae-on-t-x-trainer/



The Hawk trainer by BAE Systems, already being used by the Royal Air Force.

Northrop Takes The Lead From BAE On $11B T-X Trainer
By Colin Clark on July 07, 2014 at 3:46 PM

WASHINGTON: While Northrop Grumman isn’t doing much at the upcoming Farnborough Air Show — at least publicly — they certainly shook things up today with their announcement that they are swapping places with BAE Systems to take the lead role in the competition for the $11 billion, 350-plane T-X trainer program.

While the BAE-Northrop team is still offering BAE’s Hawk jet, being the lead or prime contractor on a program is where the real money lies, so this move highlights Northrop’s political and manufacturing power.

~snip~

But BAE is not alone in this competition. Lockheed Martin and the South Korean maker of the T-50 have teamed up to offer the South Korean trainer. General Dynamics is partnering with the Italian company Alenia Aermacchi and will offer the Italian M-346, which will be made in the US. And Boeing and SAAB announced last December that they would offer a new aircraft for the competition.

The plane, after years of wandering in the desert, finally found a home in the 2015 budget submission with $600 million allocated across the Future Years Defense Plan and starting in fiscal year 2017.