M1 Support Services, Denton, Texas, was awarded a $26,417,252 modification to contract (FA4890-16-C-0012) for the T‐38 Aircraft Maintenance Program.
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Air Education and Training Command uses the T-38C to prepare pilots for front-line fighter and bomber aircraft such as the F-15E Strike Eagle, F-15C Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, B-1B Lancer, A-10 Thunderbolt and F-22 Raptor (Picture source: US Air Force)
The modification will provide intermediate and organizational maintenance of T‐38 aircraft for Air Combat Command, Air Force Materiel Command and Air Force Global Strike Command.
The T-38 Talon is a twin-engine, high-altitude, supersonic jet trainer used in a variety of roles because of its design, economy of operations, ease of maintenance, high performance and exceptional safety record. Air Education and Training Command is the primary user of the T-38 for joint specialized undergraduate pilot training. Air Combat Command, Air Force Materiel Command and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration also use the T-38A in various roles.
The T-38 has swept wings, a streamlined fuselage and tricycle landing gear with a steerable nose wheel. Two independent hydraulic systems power the ailerons, rudder and other flight control surfaces. Critical aircraft components are waist high and can be easily reached by maintenance crews.
The T-38C incorporates a "glass cockpit" with integrated avionics displays, head-up display and an electronic "no drop bomb" scoring system. The AT-38B has a gun sight and practice bomb dispenser.
The T-38 needs as little as 2,300 feet (695.2 meters) of runway to take off and can climb from sea level to nearly 30,000 feet (9,068 meters) in one minute. T-38s modified by the propulsion modernization program have approximately 19 percent more thrust, reducing takeoff distance by 9 percent.
The instructor and student sit in tandem on rocket-powered ejection seats in a pressurized, air-conditioned cockpit.
Work will be performed at Beale Air Force Base, California; Holloman AFB, New Mexico; Langley AFB, Virginia; Tyndall AFB, Florida; and Whiteman AFB, Missouri, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2022. Fiscal 2022 operation and maintenance funds will be used but no funds will be obligated at time of award. Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Joint Base Langley-Eustis Air Force Base, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
