JACKSONVILLE, Fla. –
Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) has inducted its first two T-45 Goshawk aircraft into the Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) production line, 13 months after the Navy identified the requirement.
The Goshawk is the primary tandem-seat jet trainer the Navy and Marine Corps use for pilot carrier qualification—a mandatory certification pilots must complete before flying any other carrier-capable aircraft.
One T-45 will undergo a wing swap, while the other will receive the full scope of SLEP work. The wing swap process allows aircraft to fly into FRCSE and exchange their wings with ones that have already undergone repair, enabling more efficient turnaround times. The capability required FRCSE to develop an incremental approach to perform SLEP on the wings before aircraft fuselage induction for full SLEP production line establishment.
“The V2X crew was on site to assist us upon the arrival of the first aircraft,” said James Bock, an FRCSE Business Development Office aircraft, structural and mechanical component lead. “Through close coordination with [Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems Program Office] and CNATRA, we will be able to work collaboratively to ensure our artisans receive the highest quality training.”
V2X currently manages all T-45 organizational-level, intermediate-level and depot-level maintenance. V2X provided FRCSE with organizational-level training to FRCSE artisans to support the SLEP and help achieve the Navy’s readiness and pilot training objectives. FRCSE relied heavily on collaboration with V2X, the Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems Program Office and Chief of Naval Air Training to coordinate the organizational-level training required for the first two aircraft arrivals.
“The T-45 aircraft encompasses 29 distinct configurations, making the partnership with V2X particularly critical,” Bock said. “Organizational-level training is tailored specifically to the type, model and series, so ensuring our artisans are expertly trained on these unique variants is essential. Throughout a full-service life extension repair, there are 17 technical directives that must be accurately completed, underscoring the complexity and importance of the collaboration in support of fleet requirements.”
FRCSE expects to conduct T-45 repairs through 2036.
