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Skolflygplanet Boeing–Saab T-7A Red Hawk som USAF beställt blir två år försenat pga problem med raketstolen mm. 351 st T-7A Red Hawk skall ersätta 422 st T-38 Talon. According to statements from the service and the aircraft’s manufacturer Boeing, the aircraft’s production phase will begin in February 2025 with delivery scheduled to start in December 2025 — at least two years later than originally planned. Initial operational capability has been pushed to spring 2027 as a result of the delays. In a statement, the Air Force said that by June of 2022, the service and Boeing had decided to re-baseline the expected target dates. In the process, the service looked at all the issues encountered so far by the T-7, including “in ground, pre-flight testing and hardware qualification challenges; contractor inability to rapidly correct deficiencies; subcontractor initial design delays; three aerodynamic instability discoveries; escape system qualification delays; and supplier critical parts shortages,” an Air Force spokesperson said in a statement. According to a report in Air Force Times, worrying testing results showed a “high risk for concussions, unsafe acceleration when a parachute opens, and the possibility that a pilot’s helmet visor could fly off at high speeds,” in the event one had to punch out. A key issue is making an escape system that works for more pilots, which Defense News noted must reflect a 2020 Air Force mandate to accommodate pilots beyond decades-old standards largely tailored to men. https://breakingdefense.com/2023/04/two-years-late-air-force-now-expects-first-t-7as-in-2025-ioc-in-2027/