Aircraft
T-X Becomes T-7A Red Hawk
The winning Boeing T-X design is named in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen and the U.S. Air Force’s first African American fighter squadron
The first of a planned 351 Red Hawks is scheduled to enter service at Randolph in 2023. (U.S. Air Force illustration)
The first of a planned 351 Red Hawks is scheduled to enter service at Randolph in 2023. (U.S. Air Force illustration)

Boeing's T-X design will be designated T-7A in Air Force service, and will bear the name Red Hawk, said Acting Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Donovan at the 2019 Air Force Association’s Air, Space, and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on September 16.

The T-7 designation is a logical follow-on from the T-6 Texan II in the trainer category, while the name has been chosen to honor the Tuskegee Airmen—the African Americans who trained during World War II in Tuskegee, Alabama, and notably went on to form the 332d Fighter Group that saw action in the Mediterranean theater flying P-40s, P-39s, P-47s, and P-51s. A bomber group with B-25s was also formed but did not see combat.

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