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T-38 Talon

T-38 Talon
T-38 560FTS RandolphAFB 2001.jpeg
A T-38A from 560th Flying Training Squadron, flying over the Texas countryside in 2001
Role Advanced trainer
National origin United States
Manufacturer Northrop Corporation
First flight 10 March 1959
Introduction 17 March 1961
Status Operational
Primary users United States Air Force
United States Navy
NASA
Turkish Air Force
Produced 1961–1972
Number built 1,146
Unit cost
US$756,000 (1961 constant dollars)
US$6.173 million (2016 dollars)
Developed from Northrop N-156
Variants Northrop F-5
Developed into Northrop F-20 Tigershark

The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twin-engined supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first supersonic trainer and is also the most produced. The T-38 remains in service as of 2017 in several air forces.

The United States Air Force (USAF) operates the most T-38s. In addition to training USAF pilots, the T-38 is used by NASA. The U.S. Naval Test Pilot School is the principal US Navy operator (other T-38s were previously used as USN aggressor aircraft until replaced by the similar Northrop F-5 Tiger II). Pilots of other NATO nations fly the T-38 in joint training programs with USAF pilots.

As of 2015, the T-38 has been in service for over 50 years with its original operator, the United States Air Force.

In 1952 Northrop began work on a fighter project, the Fang, with shoulder-mounted delta wing and a single engine. The proposed General Electric J79 engine, weighing nearly two tons, meant the resulting aircraft would be large and expensive. Then in 1953, representatives from General Electric Aviation's newly created Small Aircraft Engine Department showed Northrop a relatively tiny engine (around 400 lb installed wt) capable of 2,500 lb of thrust, and Northrop VP-Engineering Edgar Schmued saw the possibility of reversing the trend toward the large fighters. Schmued and chief engineer Welko Gasich decided on a small twin-engine "hot-rod" fighter, the N-156. Northrop began its N-156 project in 1954, aiming for a small supersonic fighter jet capable of operating from the US Navy's escort carriers. However, when the Navy chose not to pursue equipping its fleets in that fashion, Northrop continued the N-156 design using in-house funding, recasting it as a lightweight fighter (dubbed N-156F) and aimed at the export market.


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