How Boeing’s T-7A Was Built In 3 Years & Became The Blueprint To End The F-35 Era

The popular online narrative that the Boeing T-7A Red Hawks’ revolutionary development methodology spells the end of the F-35 is hyped and often rests on bad-faith arguments. It can be argued that the T-7A is one of the first combat aircraft built using new “digital first” technologies. It can also be argued that the F-35 was one of the final aircraft built using expensive physical prototyping, although it did use advanced digital tools by the standards of the early 2000s. But this doesn’t end the F-35 era; the F-35’s developmental stage is now mostly behind it, and it is only now maturing into a mature weapons system.