{"id":82189,"date":"2018-09-27T20:19:46","date_gmt":"2018-09-27T20:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/27\/reuters-air-force-awards-9b-contract-to-boeing-for-next-training-jet\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:00:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:00:52","slug":"reuters-air-force-awards-9b-contract-to-boeing-for-next-training-jet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/09\/27\/reuters-air-force-awards-9b-contract-to-boeing-for-next-training-jet\/","title":{"rendered":"US Air Force awards $9B contract to Boeing for next training jet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 A Boeing-Saab partnership has won a $9.2 billion contract to produce the U.S. Air Force\u2019s next-generation training jet<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boeing\u2019s award for the T-X trainer program<\/a> marks the third major victory by the company in about a month, following an $805 million contract to build the Navy\u2019s first four MQ-25 unmanned tankers<\/a>, and a contract worth up to $2.38 billion to manufacture the Air Force\u2019s Huey replacement helicopter<\/a>. The T-X downselect was first reported by Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the winners of the competition, Boeing and Swedish aerospace firm Saab are set to capture sales of at least 351 training jets to the U.S. Air Force, with possibly more in the international market. The program promises to keep Boeing\u2019s tactical aircraft business strong after the F-15 and F\/A-18 Super Hornet lines disappear in the next decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Today\u2019s announcement is the culmination of years of unwavering focus by the Boeing and Saab team,\u201d said Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing\u2019s defense business. \u201cIt is a direct result of our joint investment in developing a system centered on the unique requirements of the U.S. Air Force. We expect T-X to be a franchise program for much of this century.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The indefinite-delivery\/indefinite-quantity contract will allow the Air Force to buy up to 475 aircraft and 120 simulators, the Air Force said in a Sept. 27 statement, although the current plan is to buy 351 T-X aircraft, 46 simulators and associated ground equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force stated that the T-X program originally was to cost about $19.7 billion, and that Boeing\u2019s bid shaved $10 billion off that amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis new aircraft will provide the advanced training capabilities we need to increase the lethality and effectiveness of future Air Force pilots,\u201d Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said in the news release. \u201cThrough competition we will save at least $10 billion on the T-X program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the contract could be worth up to $9.2 billion, that sum is by no means a sure thing for Boeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a briefing with reporters on Thursday afternoon, Will Roper, the service\u2019s acquisition executive, and Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, its top uniformed acquisition official, said the $9.2 billion amount would be obligated to Boeing if the service executes all of options that would allow it to buy more aircraft at a quicker pace, purchasing all 475 planes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Boeing assumes the preponderance of the risk with the T-X program, which starts as a fixed-price incentive fee contract, but at the fifth lot will transition to a firm-fixed price structure, Roper and Bunch said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boeing and Saab\u2019s clean-sheet trainer, designed specifically for the Air Force, beat out Leonardo DRS and a Lockheed Martin-Korea Aerospace Industries partnership. Throughout the competition, the Boeing-Saab jet was seen as the front-runner by analysts like Roman Schweizer of Cowen Washington Research Group, who pointed to Boeing\u2019s aggressive bidding strategy and ability to absorb financial losses on programs like the KC-46 tanker aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\t