RFPs issued on December 30 by the US Air Force for its new T-X advanced pilot trainer have set the stage for a possible 2017 award of a contract worth an estimated $16.3 billion. An integrated ground-based training system and 350 aircraft are included in the programme, which is one of the largest competitive procurements in worldwide military aviation. While the RFP was issued before the end of 2016 as scheduled, there have been a number of surprises in the competition. The most dramatic was the announcement of a new, last-minute entry from a team led by the US company Sierra Nevada in conjunction with Turkish Aviation Industries (TAP). Earlier in the T-X programme, Sierra Nevada had competed -unsuccessfully-for risk reduction funding.
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