Men F-5`en er ikke død - I Spania - DefenseNews

 

Det fulgte dessverre ikke med noen tegning av flyet det snakkes om her. (Red.)

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Airbus unveils jet trainer with eyes on Spain

By Vivienne Machi

 Nov 8, 03:25 PM

50-års jubileet var for nøyaktig ett år siden - Foto Spanish Air Force

Airbus is pitching a new trainer jet that would replace the Spanish Air Force's F-5M fleet, one of which is shown here in flight. (Spanish Air Force)

MADRID — By the end of this decade, the Spanish Air Force will replace its half-century-old fighter trainers with data-centric aircraft to train its pilots to fly fifth- and sixth-generation jets. And even though a contract isn’t yet on the horizon, Airbus is ready to start building.

The aerospace company’s Spanish subsidiary presented its Advanced Fighter Jet Trainer concept last week during the biennial FEINDEF conference in Madrid, Spain. If selected, the AFJT would replace the Spanish Air Force’s Northrop F-5M and CASA C-101 Aviojet aircraft, which prepare airmen to fly EF-18A Hornets and Eurofighter Typhoons.

The AFJT is a clean-sheet design based on the Spanish Air Force’s operational requirements, Abel Nin, the company’s program lead, told Defense News on the sidelines of FEINDEF on Friday.

Currently, the aircraft is designed to measure about 46 feet from nose to tail, with a nearly 33-foot wingspan. The metal airframe will be damage-tolerant, resistant to corrosion and easy to repair, per Airbus.

Nin expects a prototype could fly four years after the program is formally launched. While the Air Force plans to buy at least 20 Eurofighter Typhoons to replace its oldest EF-18As, it may opt to buy more Typhoons or Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to replace its full Hornet fleet.

The AFJT will be capable of training pilots to fly EF-18As, Typhoons, F-35s and the Future Combat Air System’s sixth-generation fighter jet, Nin said.