The U.S. Air Force on June 28 flew its next-generation trainer for the first time, marking the start of the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the T-7A Red Hawk.

The first EMD aircraft for the service took off from Boeing’s St. Louis facility. It was piloted by a uniformed Air Force pilot, Maj. Bryce Turner from the 416th Test Squadron, in the front seat and Boeing test pilot Steve Schmidt in the back. The jet flew for about a half hour south of St. Louis before returning to Lambert International Airport. 

It was a long-awaited milestone for a program that has been beset by delays. Getting to the first military flight of the EMD aircraft required a waiver from the Air Force because of problems with the T-7A’s egress system. The system’s blast cords, which open a hole in the cockpit’s canopy during ejection, had too high of a risk of pilot injury during testing and requires redesign. A fix is expected in a matter of months.

The flight took place 15 months after the first EMD aircraft was unveiled during a St. Louis ceremony. 

The Air Force now plans to make a Milestone C production decision for the program in the first quarter of calendar year 2025, as Boeing works on the escape system and other software issues. Boeing last month said it could accelerate that decision to the third quarter of 2024.

“The truth is somewhere in the middle,” said Donn Yates, Boeing’s director of business development for the T-7. “Could it slide left based on things that happen, or could it slide right? That’s a developmental program. That’s where we’re at.”

Ahead of the June 28 flight, Boeing flew two aircraft it calls “production-representative jets” (PRJ) about 500 times, evaluating about 7,000 test points to prepare for EMD. 

“When we found some issues during that flight test, we were able to then take those and make adjustments and update the flight control software, and that software is going to be what the Air Force is going to be flying in the EMD jets,” said Jim Young, the program director for T-7 escape system testing. “So [we’re] not anticipating any major hurdles when we get to flying the EMD jets. Because the airplane’s going to be using the same controls, which we’ve had [a] significant amount of testing already on, on the PRJ jets.”

Boeing has a $9.2 billion contract to build 351 T-7As. The jet that flew is one of five Air Force EMD aircraft.