The T-45 team at Naval Air Systems Command delivered the first Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) (Out)-compliant aircraft in January to Training Squadron (VT) 86 in Pensacola, Florida, to meet a new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirement. ADS-B is a system that repeatedly broadcasts an aircraft’s current position, altitude, airspeed, identification and other information over a common frequency. It is intended to replace or augment ground-based radar and enhance traffic flow.
ADS-B (Out) is an FAA requirement within the National Airspace System that mandates a nationwide transition to ADS-B (Out) with Mode S elementary surveillance technology by 2025. The T-45 ADS-B (Out) integration replaces the Air Data Computer as well as the Identification, Friend or Foe transponder, which now includes a certified ADS-B-compliant embedded Global Positioning System; improves the Mission Display Processor Operational Flight Program; and modifies aircraft wiring and existing antennas.
The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) T-45 Goshawk is a highly modified version of the British BAE Systems Hawk land-based training jet aircraft. Manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) and British Aerospace (now BAE Systems), the T-45 is used by the United States Navy as an aircraft carrier-capable trainer. The T-45 Goshawk has its origins in the mid-1970s, during which time the U.S. Navy formally commenced its search for a new jet trainer aircraft to serve as a single replacement for both its T-2 Buckeye and A-4 Skyhawk trainers.
The T-45A aircraft, the Navy version of the British Aerospace Hawk aircraft, is used for intermediate and advanced portions of the Navy/Marine Corps pilot training program for jet carrier aviation and tactical strike missions. The T-45A has replaced the T-2 Buckeye trainer and the TA-4 trainer with an integrated training system that includes the T-45A Goshawk aircraft, operations and instrument fighter simulators and training integration system. There are two versions of T-45 aircraft currently in operational use at this time, the T-45A and T-45C derivatives.
