{"id":60231,"date":"2016-12-13T20:10:18","date_gmt":"2016-12-13T20:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2016\/12\/13\/media-days-and-mason-jars-defense-contractors-promote-t-x-offerings-as-competition-heats-up\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:28:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:28:32","slug":"media-days-and-mason-jars-defense-contractors-promote-t-x-offerings-as-competition-heats-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/training-sim\/2016\/12\/13\/media-days-and-mason-jars-defense-contractors-promote-t-x-offerings-as-competition-heats-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Days and Mason Jars: Defense Contractors Promote T-X Offerings as Competition Heats Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 Just weeks or perhaps days before the final T-X request for proposals drops, defense contractors are pulling out all the stops to ramp up enthusiasm for their offerings.<br\/><br\/> With the US Air Force\u2019s top three aircraft priorities \u2014 the F-35 joint strike fighter, B-21 bomber and KC-46 refueling tanker \u2014 all under contract, the T-X trainer is the service\u2019s last big aircraft competition on the horizon. Unless a new contender enters the ring, the battle will boil down to two clean-sheet designs \u2014 from Northrop Grumman and a Boeing-Saab team \u2014 versus two existing airframes put forward by prime contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.<br\/><br\/> The message from the defense firms offering existing designs: &#8220;We\u2019re ready.&#8221;<br\/><br\/> During a Dec. 12 ceremony in Meridian, Mississippi, Raytheon unveiled the first renderings of a modern-looking building that will become its Final Assembly and Checkout (FACO) facility if its T-100 wins the T-X contract. <br\/><br\/> Leonardo will conduct most of the structural assembly of the T-100 \u2014 a version of the Italian firm\u2019s M-346 \u2014 in Italy before shipping sections of the aircraft to Meridian for final assembly. Raytheon has said the program would create about 450 jobs in Mississippi. <br\/><br\/> &#8220;It\u2019s a great day for manufacturing in Mississippi,&#8221; Rick Yuse, Raytheon\u2019s vice president of Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, said during the ceremony. &#8220;The T-100 is not only innovative, it\u2019s innovative and specifically customized for the US Air Force mission. It\u2019s more than an airplane, seamlessly weaving together classroom instruction, ground-based simulators and an operationally proven aircraft, it will deliver a comprehensive training system to the pilots that will defend our nation.&#8221;<br\/><br\/> Defense News accepted flight and hotel accommodations from Raytheon.<br\/><br\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"T-100 FACO rendering\" data-alignment=\"center\" data-object-id=\"00000158-f9c8-d6fe-a7f9-fffabeef0000\" data-type=\"image\" src=\"http:\/\/snagfilms-a.akamaihd.net\/26\/e4\/fb64570b48d38850cbfb85f43886\/t-100-faco-rendering.jpg\"\/><figcaption> <span>A rendering of Raytheon&#8217;s T-100 Final Assembly and Checkout facility, which it plans to build in Meridian, Miss., if it wins the T-X contract. <\/span><\/figcaption><figcaption> <span>Photo Credit: Courtesy of Raytheon<\/span><\/figcaption><br\/>Raytheon has built one T-100, which has been conducting test flights in Italy since this summer, allowing the company to gather data on the jet\u2019s performance ahead of an expected request for proposal release this month, said Roy Azevedo, president of Raytheon\u2019s Space and Airborne Systems division. It has also produced a mock-up used to show the physical upgrades to the M-346, including a glass cockpit, new ejection seat and provisions for aerial refueling.<br\/><br\/> For now, the only T-100 is located in Italy, and the company has not decided on when it would relocate it to the United States. <br\/><br\/> &#8220;Our emphasis so far has been on the trailer,&#8221; Azevedo said, referencing a trailer exhibited at the ceremony that houses T-100 simulators and other training materials. Raytheon has brought the T-100 trailer to air shows and conferences in an effort to get customers familiar with the product.<br\/><br\/><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Raytheon celebrated its ties to the Meridian manufacturing community with cookies and mason jars emblazoned with the T-100 logo, it also cheered the company&#8217;s links to the Mississippi politicians attending the ceremony, including Republicans Sen. Roger Wicker, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Gregg Harper. The powerful head of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Mississippi Republican Thad Cochran couldn\u2019t make it, but sent his chief of staff instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The last thing Thad and I talked about on the floor of the Senate at about 2 a.m. Saturday morning was the fact that he wished he could be here for this occasion,&#8221; Wicker said. &#8220;We think Raytheon has got the best bid. We think they\u2019re going to do what\u2019s necessary so that the Air Force \u2026 is going to choose Raytheon. Once that happens, we\u2019ve got a team in Washington, DC, that is going to make sure the program prospers.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Azevedo said congressional support was one of many elements that were used to choose the final FACO site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We\u2019re extremely happy about the support that we\u2019re seeing out of the Mississippi delegation,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I can\u2019t predict politically what this new administration is going to be a supporter of or not. I would think that this, being as high as it is on the Air Force\u2019s priority [list], that it would be a program that survives. We\u2019re not going to let it distract ourselves.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just a week earlier, Lockheed Martin opened its own FACO facility in Greenville, South Carolina, to reporters. Unlike Raytheon, Lockheed upgraded one of its existing sites to conduct final assembly of the the T-50A, a version of the T-50 trainer built by Korea Aerospace Industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mark Ward, Lockheed\u2019s chief T-50A test pilot, stressed the company\u2019s low-risk approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;There\u2019s already a Lockheed group there, they\u2019ve been here since the mid-80s. They\u2019re already very proficient in maintenance-type operations and acceptance flight-type flying operations, so all we\u2019re doing is adding on to a capability already existing there. We\u2019re not having to stand up anything brand new,&#8221; he said in a Dec. 13 interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;As far as the hangar that we\u2019re using, it\u2019s already been totally refurbished and ready to go,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;We have our production facility already setup, we have already put in place our flight operations procedures, and we really are ready to go. So if the Air Force gives us a go ahead, it is very easy for us to just take it to the next step.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the media visit last week, journalists toured the assembly line, took a ride in ground-based simulators and watched a live T-50A flight. Lockheed has one test asset, called T-X2, located in Greenville, which took off from the FACO for the first time on Nov. 19 and conducted test flights through Dec. 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No more flight operations are planned until early next year, but Lockheed continues to do ground-based testing, Ward said. In January, the company will also link its T-50A aircraft with the ground-based simulator, allowing pilots in both assets to practice accomplishing missions together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We\u2019re just waiting on some hardware right now,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Boeing is hurtling toward the first flight of its purpose-built T-X design. Officials told Defense News in November that its T-X demonstrator will take off sometime in December, but have not released any further details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company\u2019s first T-X jet recently wrapped up afterburner engine runs. The second demonstrator aircraft is also moving quickly through ground tests and will fly in early 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Northrop Grumman, which has teamed with BAE Systems and L-3, has taken a very guarded approach to the T-X competition. So far the company hasn&#8217;t released any photos of its design or information about how far along the jet is in testing, although photos of the aircraft during taxi tests emerged on Twitter this summer. Aviation Week later reported that the jet made its first flight in August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just weeks or perhaps days before the final T-X request for proposals drops, defense contractors are pulling out all the stops to ramp up enthusiasm for their 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