US Navy T-45 Trainer Jets: The US Navy has started giving two of its old T-45 Goshawk jets a second life by putting them in a special repair and upgrade program. This big move started in August 2024 and is a part of a much larger effort by the Navy to make sure pilot training keeps going strong.
The Navy doesn’t yet have a new plane to replace the old Goshawks, so this plan helps them keep using the ones they already have until something better comes along. The T-45s are very important because they help train Navy and Marine Corps pilots before they move on to fly bigger and more advanced planes that land on aircraft carriers.
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Right now 2 Goshawk jets are the first to go through this program. One of them will get brand new wings, while the other will go through full repair and overhaul to make it last much longer. The Navy says the first jet will get its new wings fast because they will use a special type of wing repair that saves time. After the wing fixes, they will move on to fixing the full aircraft step-by-step. This plan is very detailed and takes time, and they want to keep it going all the way through the year 2036.
US Navy T-45 Trainer Jets: Big Team Working
The Navy is not working alone on this. They are getting help from a company called V2X, which is based in Virginia. They’re also teaming up with the Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems Program Office (PMA-273) and the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA). These groups will all work together to handle every part of the repairs, from small fixes to the biggest overhaul work. The whole job includes organizational-level, intermediate-level, and depot-level maintenance.
One person from the Navy, James Bock, who works at the Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE), explained why the team-up with V2X is such a big deal.
According to The Defence Post, He said, “The T-45 aircraft encompasses 29 distinct configurations, making the partnership with V2X particularly critical.” What that means is that there are 29 different versions of this plane, so it’s really important that everyone working on them knows the exact type they are fixing.
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Bock also said, “Throughout a full service life extension repair, there are 17 technical directives that must be accurately completed, underscoring the complexity and importance of the collaboration in support of fleet requirements.” So fixing these planes is not a simple task at all. Every small step must be done just right so the planes are safe and ready to fly.
The T-45 Goshawk
The T-45 Goshawk is a small jet made by Boeing and used to train future Navy and Marine pilots. It’s about 39 feet long, and its wings stretch out to 31 feet. It runs on a Rolls-Royce Turbomeca F405 engine. Even though it’s a training plane, it comes with some very real systems like two-way radios, radar, and navigation tools. It even has spots under its wings where it can carry practice bombs.
This little jet can fly really fast, reaching up to 575 knots, which is about 662 miles per hour. It can fly 700 nautical miles without stopping and reach up to 30,000 feet high in the sky. That makes it perfect for pilot training missions. The Navy and Marine Corps still have around 180 of these jets in use.
