"Boeing’s T-X bid was unbeatably low” KAI says

USAF’s plan to lease T-50A Advanced Jet trainers delayed by COVID-19

By Dario Leone
Oct 11 2020
Share this article

The USAF plan to lease four to eight KAI T-50A advanced jet trainers has been postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in the US.

The US Air Force (USAF) plan to lease four to eight Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) T-50A advanced jet trainers has been postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in the US, industry sources said on Oct. 6, 2020.

According to The Korea Herald, the USAF is currently reviewing a plan to rent T-50A jets until its new Boeing T-7A Red Hawk (redesignated as the eT-7A on Sep. 14 after the Air Force announced that any weapon made using digital concepts will have an “e-” prefix in an effort to showcase these innovative processes) enters operational service. The service aims to rent the aircraft from Hillwood Aviation after the US-based contractor purchases the aircraft from KAI, South Korean aerospace and defense company announced on Mar. 23.

The USAF first pushed back the announcement of the plan to August and now the service delayed the announcement again after having set it for this month.

“It seems the US Air Force is having difficulties in securing enough budget as the US is diverting some of its defense budget to the health care budget due to the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak,” the industry source pointed out.

As we have previously explained the USAF Air Combat Command (ACC) plans to lease T-50As to help its aviators develop relevant tactical skills before they begin their formal training with the Boeing T-7A Red Hawk.

The ACC said last March that the T-50A jet trainers will provide approximately 3,000 sorties (4,500 flight hours) annually for four years and 364 days.

The T-50A was the T-7A’s top competitor for the T-X program contest won by Boeing in September 2018. The first T-7As are expected to arrive in 2023.

Photo credit: Lockheed Martin


Share this article

Dario Leone

Dario Leone

Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Share this article


Share this article
Share this article

Always up to date! News and offers delivered directly to you!

Get the best aviation news, stories and features from The Aviation Geek Club in our newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.

Error: Contact form not found.


Share this article
Back to top
My Agile Privacy
This website uses technical and profiling cookies. Clicking on "Accept" authorises all profiling cookies. Clicking on "Refuse" or the X will refuse all profiling cookies. By clicking on "Customise" you can select which profiling cookies to activate. We and our selected ad partners can store and/or access information on your device, such as cookies, unique identifiers, browsing data. You can always choose the specific purposes related to profiling by accessing the advertising preferences panel, and you can always withdraw your consent at any time by clicking on "Manage consent" at the bottom of the page.

List of some possible advertising permissions:

You can consult: our list of advertising partners, the Cookie Policy and the Privacy Policy.
Warning: some page functionalities could not work due to your privacy choices