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DUBAI—Boeing plans to announce news of an international partnership involving the T-7A Red Hawk jet trainer program in the near future, a top executive told reporters here on Nov. 16.
“Sometime within the next week, we are actually going to put out an announcement for the partnership that we have regarding one of our international T-7 opportunities,” said Bernd Peters, vice president of business development and strategy for Boeing Defense and Space, on the eve of Dubai Airshow.
Boeing officials declined to comment on questions of which country would be involved in the partnership.
“I don't got anything for you right now on that,” Boeing Defense and Space CEO Steve Parker said.
Boeing already is teamed up with Swedish airframer Saab to manufacture the aft fuselage of the Red Hawk. But the company is actively selling the trainer around the world, including ongoing discussions in the Canada, Japan and the UK.
The UAE Air Force also is looking for a trainer fleet replacement. The Emirates ordered 12 Hongdu L-16s from China to refresh its flight display team but has not yet publicly moved on options for another 36 that would replace its pilot trainers.
The U.S. Air Force launched the T-7A development program in 2018 by ordering 351 aircraft, but the original schedule that called for entry-into-service within six years has been delayed over four years to 2027.
Boeing is now 78% complete with flight envelope testing for the T-7, having started high angle of attack test points, Parker said. The company is on track to deliver the first production representative test vehicle to Randolph Air Force Base in Texas next month, Parker said.
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