Alabama connection remains alive with T-7A Red Hawk
By Troy Turner
Alabama officials in recent years hoped that the next generation of trainer jets for the U.S. Air Force would be built in their state. That isn’t happening, but efforts to land the contract did bring with it hope for new military aviation relationships at a place where such history runs emotionally deep.
The first Boeing-made T-7A Red Hawk training jet rolled off a St. Louis, Missouri, production line in late April 2022, with 350 more eventually on their way into Air Force service.
Boeing in September 2018 was awarded a $9.2 billion contract for the aircraft, simulators and other equipment. It beat out two other finalists: Lockheed-Martin; and a Tuskegee-based proposal by military aircraft producer Leonardo DRS, which is headquartered in Italy but planned to build its jet in Alabama.
Had Leonardo’s T-100 jet been chosen, the company planned to locate its production operations at Moton Field, the World War II home of the famous Tuskegee Airmen who broke the color barrier in American military aviation.
The T-100 project would have brought more than 750 direct jobs and hundreds more support jobs to the surrounding area of east-central Alabama, and it would have provided a major boost to state’s growing aviation industry, company and local government officials stated.
Boeing’s similar salute
Instead, the Air Force chose Boeing to produce its T-X trainer jets, now identified as T-7A Red Hawks, a name still carrying a symbolic link to Tuskegee’s history.
“Today we honor the heroes of our past, while also looking toward our future as an Air Force on an incredible pace of change, innovation and progress,” said Lt. Gen. Richard Clark, superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy, at the Red Hawk’s roll-out in April 2023.
Boeing’s production aircraft sport the iconic “Red Tail” symbol of the Tuskegee Airmen. The Red Hawk name is derived from the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, one of the aircraft flown by the 99th Fighter Squadron, the U.S. Army Air Forces’ first African American fighter squadron, according to the Air Force.
“With this rollout, we honor our storied history and the heroes who wrote the chapters,” Clark said, “and we usher in an exciting new era of aviation and a new generation of heroes who will write the next chapters.”
Attending the ceremony was retired Lt. Col. George Hardy, a Tuskegee Airman, along with Yvonne and Ron McGee, children of the late Brig. Gen. Charles McGee.
Could other projects come?
Despite falling short in winning the multi-million-dollar trainer jet project in Tuskegee, the effort to land another aviation project or perhaps another Air Force partnership could still someday be on the board for Macon County, said local economic development director Joe Turnham when the decision was announced.
“We earned a lot of respect,” Turnham said. “Everything we did here is more than we’ve ever done. So many people came together and worked together on this project.
“I think we really raised the profile for Moton Field and Macon County as an excellent location for an aviation-based industry to locate.”
Karin Hopkins, a member of Turnham’s marketing team that had promoted the project, shared similar comments when Tuskegee made its pitch to build aircraft.
“It gives you goose bumps,” she said, “to think about Moton Field as the place where the Tuskegee Airmen trained for service during World War II and then fast-forward to modern times and envision men and women at Moton Field once again learning to fly planes to defend this country.”
Today, the Red Hawk winning contract is a joint effort between Boeing and Saab. It is being assembled using digital design tools that will allow it to move quickly from computer screen to first flight.
“The T-7 Red Hawk is a game changer, providing advanced mission systems, a glass touchscreen cockpit, stadium seating, and embedded training capability,” Col. Kirt Cassell said.
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Reporting from Daryl Mayer of Air Force Public Affairs contributed to this article.
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Three generations of breaking barriers: T-7A Red Hawk soars with U.S. Air Force
