{"id":84828,"date":"2025-10-01T19:39:54","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T19:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/10\/01\/us-air-force-revamps-pilot-training-as-t-7-era-nears\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:23:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:23:47","slug":"us-air-force-revamps-pilot-training-as-t-7-era-nears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2025\/10\/01\/us-air-force-revamps-pilot-training-as-t-7-era-nears\/","title":{"rendered":"US Air Force revamps pilot training as T-7 era nears"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. \u2014 The Air Force is laying the groundwork to start incorporating the T-7A Red Hawk<\/a> into its pilot training operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the service is still about two years away from the first student pilots learning in the new, fifth-generation, Boeing-made jet. Before that can happen, the Air Force has to train its own trainers, said Air Education and Training Command deputy commander Maj. Gen. Clark Quinn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force is now in the process of buying 351 T-7s to replace its aging T-38 Talon jets. T-38s are roughly six decades old and were designed to teach pilots to fly Vietnam-era third-generation jets, such as F-100 Super Sabres, F-105 Thunderchiefs and F-4 Phantoms, Quinn said in a Sept. 22 interview at the Air and Space Forces Association\u2019s Air Space Cyber conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of the aircraft that the T-38 was designed to train for retired 30-plus years ago,\u201d Quinn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

T-38s have continued to be used to train pilots to fly fourth-generation jets like the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon. But when it comes to the F-22 and F-35, the Talon\u2019s design doesn\u2019t translate, and pilots now must learn to fly on actual fifth-generation jets. The Air Force has a limited number of those jets to use for training, hindering its ability to teach pilots to fly modern fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why the Air Force issued Boeing a $9.2 billion contract<\/a> in 2018 to start building the T-7. It was named the Red Hawk in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen<\/a>, pioneering Black airmen who flew red-tailed fighters to escort bombers during World War II. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The road has since been rocky<\/a>, with the program facing delays<\/a>, supply chain crunches and design flaws that had to be corrected \u2014 but it is moving forward. Boeing has now delivered all six test Red Hawks to the Air Force, with the first having arrived in November 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A T-7A Red Hawk aircraft sits in a partially built state at Boeing’s St. Louis production facility. (Boeing)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first non-test T-7 is scheduled to arrive Dec. 5 at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in Texas, Quinn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that won\u2019t mark the beginning of actually teaching new pilots to fly in the T-7, Quinn cautioned. Before that happens, the Air Force\u2019s cadre of instructor pilots need to familiarize themselves with the new, advanced trainer jet, he said, and maintainers need to learn how to keep it in flying shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first T-7 at Randolph won\u2019t be flying every day, Quinn said \u2014 but it will need to fly to put some wear and tear on the jet for the maintainers to practice repairing. At first, Boeing personnel will handle most of the jets\u2019 maintenance while teaching Air Force maintainers, who will take on a greater repair role over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second T-7 will arrive at Randolph sometime in spring 2026, Quinn said. The slow growth of the T-7 fleet will then begin to accelerate until it hits 14 jets at Randolph and reaches initial operational capability in August 2027, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that point, Quinn said, more instructor pilots will know how to teach new pilots in the T-7. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early 2028, jets will start to arrive at the 14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi. That will be the first location where new students will learn how to fly in the T-7. By that point, he said, the Air Force will be buying two or three jets each month from Boeing, most of which will go straight from the company\u2019s St. Louis, Missouri, factory to Columbus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the T-7 is up to full-rate production, Quinn said, the Air Force plans to bring on between 48 and 60 new jets per year. This would allow the service to change out at least a full training squadron each year, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re buying that many a year, you can change a wing in essentially a year and a half,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cOnce we hit \u201928 and \u201929, we start getting aircraft quickly, and the bases start recapitalizing from T-38s to T-7s pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New jet trainer, new lesson plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the T-7 is, effectively, a replacement for the T-38, Quinn said the Air Force wants it to lead to more \u2014 a revamping of how the service trains new pilots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf all we do is think of it as a new T-38, we\u2019re really going to miss a lot of opportunities,\u201d Quinn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AETC is poring over its pilot training plans to figure out what tactics and skills it still teaches that are now out of date and could be scratched, Quinn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Air Force’s F-35 pilots don’t currently have a training jet that realistically mimics flying a fifth-generation aircraft. The T-7 Red Hawk, which is slated to arrive at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, in December, is meant to fix that shortcoming. (Mark Herlihy\/Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For example, when the T-38 syllabus was first drawn up, the Air Force commonly sent large numbers of fighters into battle together, Quinn said. This meant student pilots had to routinely practice formation takeoffs and landings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But operational commanders don\u2019t use those tactics anymore, Quinn said, so AETC has dropped formation takeoffs and landings from its syllabus. And as older planes like the F-15C and A-10 Warthog retire<\/a> and new jets come on, Air Force pilot training courses will change even more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, said 19th Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Gregory Kreuder, student pilots can pick up bad habits from learning to fly in outdated jets that they later have to unlearn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quinn said that during his time as a T-38 instructor pilot, he spent about a quarter of the syllabus just teaching students how to land the jet without crashing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The T-38 is extremely fast and has unique flight characteristics during the landing process. For example, it has no leading edge flaps on its wings, Kreuder said, which can make the T-38 prone to stalling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that happens, \u201cyou\u2019ve got to know what to do quickly, or you can be in big trouble,\u201d Kreuder said. \u201cToo much of the time that we\u2019re spending is towards [teaching flying methods for] aircraft that no longer exist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The T-7, with its modern avionics and systems, flies much better than the T-38, Quinn said. This will allow instructors to spend more time teaching future pilots the skills they\u2019ll need when flying advanced fighters and bombers, including \u2014 when the time comes \u2014 the sixth-generation F-47 and B-21 Raider bomber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver time, I have seen our aircraft get easier to fly and harder to employ,\u201d Kreuder said. \u201cThe F-35 is the easiest aircraft to fly that I have ever flown. We want pilots focused on employing the mission weapon systems, and not focused on whether or not they\u2019re going to stall and fall out of the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Air Force’s first T-7 Red Hawk trainer jet arrives at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in November 2023. (Joshua McClanahan\/Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The T-7 also has multiple displays mounted in its cockpits, similar to the F-35\u2019s, Kreuder said, which will help student pilots learn to employ weapons in a training environment closer to a real-world scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe cockpits are very representative of the fleet we have,\u201d Kreuder said. The T-7 is \u201ca very gentle aircraft. I got to fly it, it flies a lot like an F-16 and an F-35. It\u2019s very powerful, very smooth, a very gentle handling. It\u2019s right what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That will also make it easier for student pilots to spend time in on-the-ground training simulators, learning the finer points of employing sensors, weapons and other systems, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Air Force revamps its training programs to suit the T-7, the service is looking to see if there are overlooked vital skills to teach that can take the place of dropped lessons \u2014 or even if it can shorten the course and graduate pilots even quicker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And even though the advanced T-47 fighter is still in its early stages and little is known about how it will fly, the Air Force\u2019s trainers are already starting to think ahead to the sixth-generation era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As jets advance, Kreuder said, their software becomes increasingly important, and the T-7 will need to adapt to keep up with the T-47.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need something that we can upgrade, that is not hardwired,\u201d Kreuder said. \u201cSoftware is the future. As long as we can [upgrade], we can keep somewhat up with the basics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AETC is also looking towards a future where fighter pilots fly into battle alongside semi-autonomous drone wingmen, known as collaborative combat aircraft<\/a>, which would attack enemies, conduct jamming operations or recon or serve as decoys to lure enemy fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force could decide that pilots should learn to employ CCAs once they arrive at their operational unit, Quinn said. Or, Kreuder said, AETC may start folding CCA simulations into the T-7\u2019s ground training programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But much of how CCA training will work is still to be decided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to adapt to [CCAs], clearly,\u201d Kreuder said. \u201cSome of it we can do with computers in the \u2026 simulator environment. Do I need to actually see the thing that I\u2019m interacting with in order to train to it? We\u2019re at the very beginning of the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Air Education and Training Command is preparing to teach instructor pilots on the T-7 and revamping its flying syllabus for the fifth-gen 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