Currently the aft section of the T-7A Red Hawk is built at Saab’s factory in Linköping, Sweden, then shipped to the United States.
16 October 2021: Saab is all set to open a new leading-edge, 100,000 square foot production facility in West Lafayette Indiana, less than 300 miles from the Boeing facility. The Boeing-Saab team is producing the new advanced trainer for the US Air Force with Saab providing the aft section to Boeing’s forward fuselage. Currently the aft section is built at Saab’s factory in Linköping, Sweden, then shipped to the United States.
Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing Défense, Space & Security said, “I’m inspired by the Boeing-Saab team’s accomplishments with the T-7A Red Hawk – bringing together the best of digital design and production innovation to build this incredible trainer. Our modern T-7A Red Hawk production lines are enabling us to deliver the most digitally advanced, simply and efficiently produced, and intelligently supported solutions to our customers, and we’re honoured to team with Saab to make this possible.”
Since the inception of T-7A, Boeing and Saab have continued to seek and evolve new program efficiencies.
Steve Parker, Boeing Bombers & Fighters, vice president and general manager said, “Our teams will no longer have to tackle lengthy trans-Atlantic shipping schedules. The digital characteristics of this trainer not only enables adaptive growth in future builds, but it also significantly improves quality as compared to traditional design and manufacturing methods.”
The T-7A Red Hawk went from concept to first flight in just 36 months using advanced model-based engineering and digital design techniques. The digital thread, the connection of digital information through product design, manufacturing and inspection, used throughout the program has accounted for a 75per percent improvement in engineering quality.
In September 2018, the US Air Force awarded Boeing a USD 9.2 billion contract to supply 351 advanced trainer aircraft and 46 associated ground-based training simulators.
