As opposed to a derated, fattened Gripen offspring?
Come on, the Boeing T-X is almost 100% Super Hornet, only at 40% size.
The USAF seems to have successfully trained F-22 pilots using 1950s-designed T-38s. The Italians and Israelis have F-35 pilots coming up through the M-346, which by your reasoning must be impossible since it failed T-X.
Sure they have. But if the idea is to download as many hours as possible what with the lack of twin seaters, it’s best to go for the trainer with the best flight envelope. That is, with T-X they can stay on the trainer for longer, while with T-38, they have to change to F-22 at an earlier stage.
The M-346 is not a 70s design. Quite sure it has a larger flight envelope than T-50. Not sustained Gs, but carefree-handling, AoA-wise. And sustained Gs can always be simulated by descending.
It has nothing to do with ‘generations’ of trainers, all that fancy stuff is done in the simulator. A T-X of any type can’t emulate an F-22’s TVC, or an F-35’s sensor fusion.
Sure the avionics stuff is simulator based, on the plane or on the ground (in that regard T-X can emulate F-35’s sensor fusion).
But the fancy flying stuff is done in real life. And the Super Hornet trainer beats the Viper trainer in that area. Thankfully, Super Hornets weak supersonic performance doesn’t matter for a trainer.
Btw, they have sorf of come full circle:
N-156, T-38, F-5A, F-5E, F-17, F-18A, F-18E, T-X
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