The Air Force’s first T-7 Red Hawk trainer assigned to an operational unit landed at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in Texas on Dec. 5, opening the door to the service’s new era of pilot training.

A lot more work remains, however, before the T-7 is officially folded into day-to-day activities to train the next generation of Air Force pilots.

The Boeing-made T-7 is the service’s first new jet trainer in decades, and the first designed to teach new pilots how to fly fifth-generation jets such as the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It will also be used to teach pilots to fly the advanced B-21 Raider stealth bomber and F-47 fighter.

Lt. Col. Michael “Hyde” Trott, commander of Randolph’s 99th Flying Training Squadron, first flew the T-7 from Boeing’s St. Louis, Missouri, factor

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