The U.S. Air Force’s $16.3 billion contract to replace its trainer fighters with next-generation fleet came down to a two-way horserace between consortiums each comprising Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Saab Group and Boeing.

According to the defense industry Thursday, two contestants are left in the race over the U.S. T-X Advanced Pilot Training program to replace the aging Northrop T-38 Talon fleets where overall purchase could reach 1,000 jets given the average age of an aircraft.

Northrop Gruman that partnered up with BAE Systems and another team of Raytheon and Leonardo S.p.a. did not hand in proposals by the end of last month.

The two remaining teams will be weighed on speed, thrust, weight and reliability.

KAI fields homogenous T-50A, a renovated version of the T-50 Golden Eagle used by the Korean air force. The players tested out their trainers before the U.S. Defense Department on Thursday. The final awarding takes place in November 2017.

T-50A is already in service and exported. Its partner Lockheed Martin supplied the U.S. Air Force’s main fighters F-22 and F-35.

The Boeing and Saab’s prototype called T-X is said to be the most powerful equipped with an engine that produces as much as 22,000 pounds of thrust, followed by KAI and Lockheed Martin’s T-50A with 17,700 pounds thrust. It also weighs 12,500 pounds, lighter than T-50A which weighs 14,200 pounds. Boeing - Saab consortium is pitching its strengths as well as aggressive price cut.

KAI-Lockheed Martin team would emphasize on the reliability of the T-50A fleet that would be a facelift version unlike its rival’s jet designed from the scratch to meet the U.S. Air Force demands.

The initial batch of 350 aircrafts to replace the T-38 Talon jets in service since the 1960s would cost$16 billion, but the total pipeline value could near $90 billion.

As of 11:34 a.m. Friday, shares of KAI were traded at 60,300 won ($52.67), down 7.66 percent from the previous session in Seoul trading.

By Kim Jung-hwan

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