Pentagon eyes budget-friendly lightweight jets. A pragmatic shift or a risky compromise?

For almost half a decade, Congressional committees have been analyzing the escalating operating costs of the F-35. The Pratt & Whitney F135 engines exemplify this issue. Unforeseen high-pressure turbine replacements have resulted in significantly shorter operational times. Moreover, the aircraft spend an excessive amount of time being serviced.

In light of this, Americans are reconsidering the wisdom of procuring more of these jets. Two years ago, John Garamendi, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Combat Readiness, pointed out that the current maintenance costs for the F-35A acquired by the Air Force are about 47 percent higher than budgeted by the USAF. This implies a significant underestimation in budgeting for the operation of these aircraft.

Initially, the Pentagon planned that the F-35A would directly replace the F-16. However, the cost of replacing 900 F-16s appears too high, prompting the initiation of a program aiming to reconcile Air Force requirements.

The TacAir study explores acquiring a low-cost fighter jet to assume the most straightforward responsibilities of the F-16 - national air policing, secondary defense roles, and specific attack missions. It aims to identify scenarios where deploying expensive and high-maintenance aircraft would be unnecessary.

Pentagon analysts believe that a lightweight fighter jet could be the solution. Even smaller than previous light fighter programs such as the ones that produced the F-16 and F/A-18. The new aircraft would be akin to the T-7 trainer jet. Although discussions with Boeing about developing a light aircraft based on the F-7 and the T-7A Red Hawk trainer have not occurred, the USAF has expressed interest in this concept as a potential replacement for older F-16 units.

The trainer version of the T-7 has a maximum take-off weight of about 6 tonnes. It flies at the speed of sound, with a maximum range of 1140 miles. Importantly for the Pentagon, the T-7 offers enormous potential for modernization, making it adaptable to various tasks - perfect for a lightweight fighter role.

"Open mission system architecture, low cost per flight hour, and the ability to mount weapon systems on a light aircraft," said Donn Yates, vice president of air dominance system development.

"Sure, we need to make some modifications, but it's worth it," added Yates, who oversees all of Boeing's fighter aircraft programs.

Since the inception of the T-X program, which gave rise to the Red Hawk, Boeing has suffered significant losses, amounting to $1.3 billion by October 2023. This was, however, part of the company's strategy. The Chicago-based firm placed the minimum bid during the original competition, incurring initial losses in hopes that the Pentagon would choose a light fighter based on the trainer jet.

This approach is familiar territory for Boeing. The T-7 is just one of several of their projects where they strategically submitted low bids to offset early production losses with profits from later batches and extended support contracts.

"We bid very aggressively because we anticipated this scenario," Yates stated.

"Think of any large nation, undergoing air force modernization, flying the F-35 and needing a cost-effective aerial platform. Everyone we've spoken to has shown interest. Is there interest? Absolutely," Yates concluded at the Dubai Air Show.