A T-7A Red Hawk in flight at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Feb. 2, 2025. The T-7A Red Hawk will become the primary trainer for Air Education and Training Command. (Chase Kohler/U.S. Air Force)
The Air Force said Monday it has given the green light to start production of the new T-7A Red Hawk jet trainer.
Boeing will be paid $219 million for the first 14 two-seat trainers that will be used to teach new Air Force pilots how to handle jet aircraft. The contract also includes training, support equipment and spare parts. The Air Force plans to eventually buy 351 T-7A aircraft and 46 ground-based training simulators.
“The T-7A is a pivotal program for the future of our combat air forces,” said William Bailey, who is performing the duties of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics.
The Red Hawk will replace the Air Force Air Education and Training Command’s T-38 Talon aircraft in 2027. The Talon, which first flew in 1959, is widely recognized as the world’s first supersonic jet trainer.
The Red Hawk was designed using all-digital methods, which the Air Force said streamlined the development process and will help accelerate production.
“It signifies our confidence in the aircraft’s design and our readiness to begin producing this game-changing capability,” said Rodney Stevens, program executive officer for Training and Director of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Training Directorate. “While there is still work to do, we have a strong partnership and a clear path forward to deliver the world’s most advanced pilot training system.”
The Red Hawk is just under 50 feet long, with a wingspan of just more than 32 feet. It has a top speed of Mach 1.3 when using the afterburner and a service ceiling of 50,000 feet.
The trainer’s tail is painted a distinctive red color — a salute to the Tuskegee Airmen, the military’s first Black pilots, who served during World War II. American bomber crews nicknamed the planes of the Tuskegee Airmen the “Red Tails” because they had vertical stabilizers on their planes painted red.
After initial test flying at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the first aircraft was sent Dec. 8, 2025 to the Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas.
“Our mission is to train the next generation of combat aviators, and the T-7A Red Hawk is the tool we need to do it,” said Brig. Gen. Matthew Leard, Director of Plans, Programs, Requirements, and International Affairs for the Air Education and Training Command.
