US Navy Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS)

GTX said:
Look up MAGIC CARPET
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I am extremely familiar with it. From CATCC, every mode of approach, and Naval Aviation Training. Our students NEED to practice CQ at the SNA level.

Edit:
From the schoolhouse level, the amount of money that could be wasted not getting someone carrier qualled prior to the FRS is going to cause huge headaches. Shit breaks on the boat all the time, you need fallbacks.
 
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SNC Teams With Northrop Grumman, GA For U.S. Navy Trainer Bid | Aviation Week Network

Sierra Nevada Company has brought on two major companies to pitch a new-build trainer aircraft for the U.S. Navy.
aviationweek.com aviationweek.com

Sierra Nevada Company has brought on two major companies to pitch a new-build trainer aircraft for the U.S. Navy, as it continues to pitch the service on the merits of conducting carrier-representative landings with the future jet.

SNC will team with Northrop Grumman and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. for its Freedom aircraft as it competes for the Navy’s Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS)—the competition to replace the T-45 Goshawk fleet. SNC, typically an integrator as opposed to an original equipment manufacturer, will need the production capacity that the two other companies can provide.
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From the AW&ST article - "Removing the requirement for unflared landings avoids potentially expensive and time-consuming work on the competing aircraft that are not designed to take the punishment."

It's ALWAYS about the money. With this, it is my opinion that the USN has adopted a "pay later" philosophy for manned platforms. Even if manned platforms have automatic landing software, a bullet through the electronic brain means the human will have to do so. Not knowing how will likely be a bad thing.
 
yasotay said:
a bullet through the electronic brain means the human will have to do so.
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All current and future USN tactical jets are unstable FBW designs. A "bullet through the electronic brain" i.e. loss of flight control systems means the aircraft is unflyable. Immediate ejection is the only option left in such a scenario. Provided the escape systems still work and the crew hasn't g-LOC-ed.
 
eagle said:
All current and future USN tactical jets are unstable FBW designs. A "bullet through the electronic brain" i.e. loss of flight control systems means the aircraft is unflyable. Immediate ejection is the only option left in such a scenario. Provided the escape systems still work and the crew hasn't g-LOC-ed.
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Agree 100%
My point was more toward a functioning aircraft that for whatever reason does not have a functioning automatic landing system. Would be ashamed to dump a $50 to $150M jet because the pilot does not know how to land it on the carrier.
 
yasotay said:
My point was more toward a functioning aircraft that for whatever reason does not have a functioning automatic landing system. Would be ashamed to dump a $50 to $150M jet because the pilot does not know how to land it on the carrier.
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What happens for aircraft that don't have a pilot like MQ-25?
 
yasotay said:
Agree 100%
My point was more toward a functioning aircraft that for whatever reason does not have a functioning automatic landing system. Would be ashamed to dump a $50 to $150M jet because the pilot does not know how to land it on the carrier.
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But how is that supposed to happen? The way I understand it, magic carpet is baked into the FCS, it's part of the software. There is no possibility of losing parts of the system. Either it works, or it doesn't.

Apart from that, pilots could still know how to manually land jets, provided they were taught on frontline aircraft.
 
eagle said:
But how is that supposed to happen? The way I understand it, magic carpet is baked into the FCS, it's part of the software. There is no possibility of losing parts of the system. Either it works, or it doesn't.

Apart from that, pilots could still know how to manually land jets, provided they were taught on frontline aircraft.
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While it is likely not a frequent occurrence for software to fail, it does. Usually at the worst point in time. That is my point, pilots who do not receive basic ship landing from the start will put everyone at risk on the carrier. That is the point of the argument. It appears the USN is moving away from teaching carrier landing technique to its new aviators. It has always been a tenant of military aviation, that you train for the worst case. This philosophy appears to be lost on our venture capital bread leaders.
 
Perhaps a bad assumption but I thought the T-45 is used conducting carrier landing qualification. That is the aircraft the USN wants to replace with an aircraft that does not have to land on a carrier. So am I to understand they are transitioning all carrier landing training to only those aircraft aircraft that operate from carriers? Certainly is an option I suppose, but almost a century of successful methodology seems risky to walk away from.
Guess only time and accident rates will tell.
 
yasotay said:
Perhaps a bad assumption but I thought the T-45 is used conducting carrier landing qualification. That is the aircraft the USN wants to replace with an aircraft that does not have to land on a carrier. So am I to understand they are transitioning all carrier landing training to only those aircraft aircraft that operate from carriers? Certainly is an option I suppose, but almost a century of successful methodology seems risky to walk away from.
Guess only time and accident rates will tell.
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Yes the T-45 was used to do carrier quals but is no longer doing that for undergraduate students.

But in a major change to how the service trains aviators, the Navy recently revamped their flight training curriculum so that pilots now graduate from flight school and receive their “Wings of Gold” — the Navy’s formal name for flight wings — without actually landing on an aircraft carrier.

“The final strike carrier landing qualification occurred in March of 2025,” a Navy official told Task & Purpose. “Students in the strike pipeline, those training to fly F/A-18s, F-35s, and EA-18Gs, are no longer required to qualify by landing on a carrier prior to graduation.”
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taskandpurpose.com

Navy ends carrier landings as a requirement to earn 'Wings of Gold'

Landing on an aircraft carrier defines Naval aviation. But new pilots won't have to do it until later in their training.
taskandpurpose.com taskandpurpose.com

As of March, pilots headed for carrier duty will now qualify on carrier landings after they earn their wings, when they move on to learn to fly their assigned fighter jets in units the Navy calls fleet replacement squadrons.
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