Graham Warwick/ATLANTA
NINE TEAMS are expected to respond to the US Air Force's 14 December request for proposals to upgrade the Northrop T-38 advanced trainer. The $700 million avionics upgrade programme (AUP) is intended to keep the T-38 in service until 2020.
Under the AUP, the T-38 cockpit will be upgraded to be representative of front-line USAF fighters, introducing a head-up display as the primary flight reference and adding multi-function head-down displays. The global-positioning system will be introduced, and other changes made to improve reliability, maintainability and availability.
A 36-month engineering- and manufacturing-development is expected, to be awarded in July under which two proto-type upgraded T-38s will be produced and tested. Production options will cover the upgrade of a further 425 T-38s between 1999 and 2004.
The winning team will also supply aircrew training-devices for the upgraded T-38, and provide contractor support of the aircraft and devices.
The T-38 AUP is of particular significance to companies with designs on the F-5-upgrade market. While McDonnell Douglas has teamed with Israel Aircraft Industries' Lahav division, which has F-5 upgrade experience, Northrop Grumman has teamed with EFW, a US subsidiary of Israel's Elbit, which has also upgraded F-5s. Singapore Aerospace, which has F-5-upgrade experience, plans to bid through its US subsidiary Mobile Aerospace, a commercial aircraft maintenance centre.
The competition has also attracted experienced system integrators, including Harris and Loral, as well as established upgrade contractors, such as Chrysler Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Rockwell and Tracor (which is teamed with Sierra Technologies, the only company which has experience of upgrading T-38s).
Source: Flight International
