Report: Next-Gen Air Force Trainers Have ‘Serious’ Flight Concerns

Boeing T-7 Red Hawk faces a litany of issues as officials seek to move quickly.

Jack Daleo

Friday, June 26, 2026 at 04:00 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

A T-7A Red Hawk taxis to take off at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph on April 23, 2026. [Credit: U.S. Air Force/Sean Worrell]

Key Takeaways:

The T-7 Red Hawk trainer faces "serious" airworthiness risks for its initial production due to Boeing's alleged noncompliance and failure to provide critical safety data, with current issues including an inability to fly in rain.
The program is significantly over budget, with Boeing absorbing $3.2 billion in cost overruns, while Air Force strategies to address delays and secure data could add over $1.5 billion in taxpayer costs.
Despite ongoing technical challenges and safety concerns, the Air Force is accelerating the T-7's deployment to replace aging trainers, leading to worries about compromising safety for speed and potentially over-burdening new pilots.

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The U.S. Air Force in 2018 awarded Boeing a $9.2 billion, fixed-price contract to replace its aging T-38 Talon trainers. According to a new report, the manufacturer’s next-generation T-7 Red Hawk still cannot fly in rain—and that may be the least of its concerns.

The three-part, 7,000-word investigation from digital news site Breaking Defense includes interviews with officials from the Air Force and Boeing—as well as unnamed government sources and people familiar with the T-7 program—who paint conflicting pictures of the aircraft.