Air Warfare

Navy postpones new trainer jet proposal, award dates

Textron Aviation Defense and SNC are currently competing for the Navy's Undergraduate Jet Training System program.

By Diana Stancy on September 02, 2026 10:12 am
A T-45C Goshawk, attached to Training Airwing (TV) 2, launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Michael Gomez)

WASHINGTON — The Navy is postponing when it plans to issue an award for the service’s new training jet — and is extending the deadline for when competitors can submit their proposals for the competition, according to a new request for proposal (RFP). 

Previously, the Navy had said it intended to announce the award for the Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) in March 2027, but Tuesday’s RFP noted the service now plans to issue the award on June 30, 2027.

Likewise, the Navy is pushing back the window to submit proposals for the jet from Sept. 9 to Oct. 30, 2026. This is the second deadline push after the Navy originally gave a July 2026 deadline.

Aviation Week first reported on the updated RFP.

The Navy’s new trainer jet is slated to succeed the service’s T-45 Goshawk fleet that the service first started using in the early 1990s to train Navy and Marine Corps aviators for jet carrier aviation and tactical strike missions. 

In March, the Navy shared an RFP that detailed it is no longer requiring the new trainer jet to land on aircraft carriers, unlike the T-45. The Navy also said it isn’t requiring the new aircraft to support field carrier landing practice (FCLP) to touch down, which aims to simulate a carrier landing on an airfield runway. 

Instead, the aircraft must support FCLP to wave off, and the Navy said in the RFP that competitors should detail “unique aircraft simulation capabilities” to prepare aviators to land on carriers. 

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Currently competing for the UJTS program are Textron Aviation Defense, offering the Beechcraft M-346N as part of a partnership with Leonardo, and SNC, which is offering its Freedom trainer with Northrop Grumman and General Atomics.

Lockheed Martin announced in April it would not put forth its offer of the TF-50N with Korea Aerospace Industries for the program, and Boeing announced in June it also would exit the competition.