Saab to develop U.S. production capability for T-X

Saab President and CEO Hakan Buskhe announced today the company would establish a United States-based manufacturing and production capability as it works with Boeing to compete a clean-sheet, next-generation trainer design.

Speaking from the exhibit floor at the Air Force Association's annual conference in National Harbor, MD, Buskhe announced the company is considering three options for establishing a U.S. presence for its portion of T-X and is working to determine whether it will build a new facility, work with an existing U.S. subsystem developer to establish a facility or acquire an existing manufacturing capability.

Buskhe said he does not have a time line for when the company would make a decision.

The Boeing-Saab team has not identified which portions of the jet are being developed by which company, and Boeing Defense President and CEO Leanne Caret said today the information will not be disclosed during source selection. The Air Force expects to award a contract by the end of the year.

Caret noted that with Saab's announcement, more than 90 percent of the Boeing-Saab offering would be produced in the United States.