Covid-19: Red Hawk testing progresses at Edwards AFB

Boeing and the US Air Force (USAF) have continued testing the T-7A Red Hawk advanced jet trainer aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), despite personnel restrictions put in place because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The first two Red Hawk production representative jets have continued through flight trials despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The USAF reported on 19 May that the 412th Test Wing (TW) at the California base has put in place remote working and other mitigating solutions to protect its airmen and contractors while continuing to progress the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the Red Hawk programme.

“The 412th TW has maintained an operational tempo that rivals pre-virus days, despite geographically separated teams and reduced manning. The 412th TW has continued operations through the adoption of dynamic processes and innovative techniques,” the USAF said.

As noted by the service, with these new measures in place the 412th TW has participated in Distributed Test Operations (DTO) with the Red Hawk. “On 30 April the T-7A Test Team executed the first real-time DTO in a mission control room at Ridley Mission Control Center at Edwards AFB. The significance of the DTO process is that it allows engineers within Ridley to view real-time flight tests from remote locations. The latest test took place approximately 2,000 miles away at the Boeing St Louis facility [in Missouri], which allowed engineers at Edwards AFB to watch video and view flight telemetry in real time,” the USAF said.