Jonathan Aronoff News Today

First next-gen USAF advanced trainer arrives at Edwards AFB for tests

The first T-7A Red Hawk, piloted by Maj. Jonathan Aronoff, 416th Flight Test Squadron pilot, and Boeing test pilot Steve Schmidt, soars over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Nov. 8, 2023, prior to arrival. The T-7A will replace the 1960s-era T-38 aircraft by providing advanced pilot training capabilities for aviators learning to fly both tactical and bomber aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo by Bryce Bennett)

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. The first Boeing T-7A Red Hawk military trainer successfully arrived at Edwards Air Force Base on November 8, a move that kicks off the U.S. Air Force developmental flight-test campaign for the aircraft. When all tests are completed, the T-7A is intended to be the replacement pilot-training capability for the T-38 Talon, which was first fielded in the early 1960s.

ENID, Okla. — A T-7A Red Hawk, which will become the U.S. Air Force’s new advanced training aircraft, made a stop at Vance Air Force Base on Tuesday, Nov. 7,

T-7A Red Hawk Jet known as APT-2, intended to replace the T-38, arrived at Edwards Air Force Base for testing.

Edwards Air Force Base in California has received its first T-7A Red Hawk, an advanced training jet that will begin final testing and eventually replace the older planes that have helped mold American pilots for more than 60 years, the service said.

“Like most test programs, we’ll have discovery and we’ll overcome it quickly,” said Air Force T-7A program lead Col. Kirt Cassell.