Boeing Needed International Help to Build New Training Jet
Boeing partnered with Swedish company Saab to design their candidate for the Air Force's next advanced trainer aircraft.
By Marcus Weisgerber Read bio
September 13, 2016
A decade of layoffs forced the US giant to seek engineering and manufacturing talent from partner Saab.
It seemed so all-American: a U.S. aviation giant unveiling its newest military jet to flashing lights and thumping heavy-metal music. But the sleek twin-tailed T-X — Boeing’s candidate to become the U.S. Air Force’s next pilot trainer — couldn’t have made it to the dolled-up St. Louis hangar without a good deal of international help.
For all its deep aviation heritage, the Chicago company needed a partner on the T-X bid. A decade of engineering layoffs had left the venerable American firm without the workers needed to add the trainer competition to its existing workload, particularly with the Air Force requiring demonstration aircraft with a relatively quick turnaround. It also needed a way to do it more cheaply than past endeavors.
http://www.defenseone.com/business/2016/09/boeing-needed-international-help-build-new-training-jet/131510/?oref=d-topstory
