Aircraft
T-7A Red Hawk Begins Air Force Flight Testing
Aircraft APT-2 has arrived at the integrated test force at Edwards AFB.
Boeing T-7A Red Hawk
Red Hawk APT-2 flies over Rogers Dry Lake on its arrival to join the T-7A ITF at Edwards AFB. (Photo: U.S. Air Force)

The Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) at Edwards AFB, California, welcomed its first Boeing T-7A Red Hawk advanced trainer on November 8. The aircraft in question is known as APT-2 and was the first production-representative test aircraft from the St Louis, Missouri, assembly line.

On its journey to Edwards—piloted by Air Force and Boeing test pilots—the T-7A visited Vance AFB in Oklahoma, Kirtland AFB in New Mexico, and Arizona's Luke AFB. Vance, in particular, is expected to be an operating base for the type, replacing the 1960s-era Northrop T-38 Talon in the advanced training role for the U.S. Air Force.

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