[Courtesy of Lockheed Martin]
US defense giant Lockheed Martin will offer an upgraded version of the T-50 developed jointly in South Korea for a US military program to acquire trainer jets instead of a clean-sheet alternative designed by its Skunk Works division, a US defense weekly reported.
The US Air Force has announced a $10 billion T-X program to purchase as many as 350 two-seat trainer jets to replace its Northrop T-38 Talon. The Program has drawn significant interest from five industry competitors, including Lockheed and a Boeing-Saab team.
The winner will likely be set up as the dominant producer of training aircraft for the next two decades.
DefenseNews quoted Lockheed Martin executive vice president Rob Weiss as saying the company concluded that a brand-new blueprint would pose too much risk to the program’s cost and schedule.
Lockheed Martin has invested heavily in a block upgrade of the T-50 that adds an aerial refuelling receptacle on the dorsal of the aircraft, as seen on the first production example unveiled in South Korea in December.
"At the end of the day, it costs more, takes longer, is higher risk and does not add any capability beyond what our modernized T-50 will do,” Weiss said.
By contrast, the T-50 developed jointly with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is ready for production now, Weiss said.
KAI, South Korea's sole military aircraft producer, has struggled to shore up its charges into the global warplane market by pushing for T-50 sales to Indonesia, the Philippines, Iraq and other countries.
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