Stavatti Aerospace has thrown its hat – or Javelin – into the ring to replace the US Air Force's jet trainer fleet. Coming in the wake of two major contestants withdrawing from the USAF Advanced Pilot Training Program (T-X) competition, the Javelin's entry shows that the contest to succeed the Air Force's fleet of 400 T-38 aircraft that have been in service for over half a century is still very much open.
According to Stavatti, the twin-engine, two-seater Javelin began life in 1998 as the Javelin Mk-30 – a two-seat civil jet sport plane developed by the Aviation Technology Group (ATG) starting in 1998. Despite drawing orders for 151 aircraft and a 2004 partnership with Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) to develop a military version, the Javelin Mk-30 only reached the prototype phase before the company declared bankruptcy in 2008.
On November 14, 2016, Minnesota-based Stavatti was awarded a license to develop, prototype, certify, manufacture, sell, and support the Javelin. The company then began redesign work before announcing its entry into the T-X competition.
Like most jet trainers, the Javelin is a small two-seater, but unlike its civilian predecessor it includes a number of structural improvements to allow the airframe to pull nine Gs as well as handling more powerful engines and greater fuel capacity and payload.
![Assembly model of the Stavatti javelin](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/f941aa4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x960+0+0/resize/1280x960!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Fstavatti-javelin-1.jpg)
The Javelin's maximum speed is Mach 1.36 (1.035 mph, 1,666 km/h) and the company says in addition to serving as a high performance military jet trainer, the aircraft will be available for sale to allied air forces as a Very Light Fighter (VLF) aircraft.
Stavatti says that is looking for a larger prime contractor as a partner to help with the manufacture, training, and contractor logistical support for the aircraft. Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon have both withdrawn from the T-X competition in recent weeks, leaving the field to Stavatti, Lockheed Martin, Alenia Aermacchi, Textron AirLand, and Sierra Nevada Corporation.
Source: Stavatti Aerospace