Saab, Purdue to Dedicate Aerospace Facility
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowOfficials from Purdue University, the state of Indiana and Sweden-based Saab will Wednesday formally dedicate the aerospace company’s new research and manufacturing facility at Purdue Discovery Park District. In 2019, Saab announced plans to invest $37 million to build the 100,000-square-foot building at Purdue. The Saab facility will produce the aft section of the T-7A Red Hawk advanced trainer aircraft for the U.S. Air Force in partnership with The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA).
In an interview on Inside INdiana Business in June, General Manager Robert Ulibarri said the jet trainer program is an important one for the Air Force and the new aircraft will play a huge role in its future.
“It’s replacing an aging fleet,” said Ulibarri. “The T-38 was first flown in 1959 and has been the trainer of choice for tens of years since then, but it’s reached its end of life. So, the maintenance costs are extremely high and they’re also not as reliable and the T-7A fills that need.”
The T-7A has been officially named the Red Hawk to honor the Tuskegee Airmen, the first Black military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps, which eventually became the U.S. Air Force. In World War II, the aviators painted their planes with a red-tailed color scheme.