Originally Posted by
UAL T38 Phlyer
USMC:
It appears the camel (Humpback) has air refueling capability, and the slick jet does not.
I watched the video, and can clearly see the markings for the AAR door on the humpback, but not the other.
There are 4 candidates:
1. Boeing's airplane in partnership with Saab.
2. Northrop's new airplane, seen in taxi tests at Mojave. Looks very T-38-ish, but with a single GE404. The prototype is composite; unknown about production airplanes.
3. The Lockheed/Korean T-50
4. The Alenia AermacchiM-46, which is really a Yak 130 with western avionics.
All capable machines, all more expensive than necessary, and probably all more complex than needed for introductory jet training.
I did see in the video that they open/closed the air refueling door and it was on the hump-back, but I didn't know if the slick back lacked the door.
Once again then - having only certain jets capable for training a/a refueling limits the scheduling availability.
Any word from AETC bubbas about which one has caught their attention?