UNDER THREE NEW major initiatives, the US Navy is launching a modernization effort for its aviation training fleet that will ultimately replace three of the four aircraft types used by the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) to produce naval aviators in the US Navy, US Marine Corps, and the US Coast Guard, as well as some foreign nations. The navy is taking what in acquisition lingo is called a 'non-developmental' approach to the modernization, selecting or considering existing aircraft designs for modification rather than developing a new design to fit the requirements. This approach is almost mandatory because of the need to keep cost and development time down. But in the case of a jet to train carrier-based aviators, the approach is generating controversy.
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