Red Tails receive first operational Red Hawk
On 5 December 2025, Air Education and Training Command's 99th Flying Training Squadron Red Tails, part of the 12th Flying Training Wing at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, received the first Boeing T-7A Red Hawk to be used for Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT).
The arrival of T-7A, with serial number 21-7005, marks a historic milestone for USAF's Air Education and Training Command as it will replace the Northrop T-38 Talon. The first T-38A production examples were already delivered in 1961 to USAF's, then named, Air Training Command (ATC).
Adorned with a red tail, but lacking the RA code, T-7A "7005" arrived at Randolph. At is expected that the 12th Flying Training Wing will host an arrival ceremony at JBSA-Randolph at a later date.
Earlier, Scramble Magazine wrote the following about the T-7A Red Hawk: Randolph AFB starts construction work for T-7A Red Hawk, Red Hawk will prepare future fighter pilots well into the 22nd century, and USAF's Red Hawk trainer readies for climate chamber testing.
USAF's new Air Education and Training Command (AETC) T-7A trainer carries twin red tails as a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, who flew red tailed P-51 Mustangs into combat and into history as the first African American aviation unit in the US military.
Credit photo: USAF / credit patch: https://www.aviatorgear.com