The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twin-engine supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first supersonic jet trainer and is also the most produced. The T-38 remains in service as of 2021 in several air forces.

In 1952, Northrop began work on a fighter project the N-102 Fang, with a shoulder-mounted delta wing and a single-engine. The proposed General Electric J79 engine, weighing nearly two tons, meant the resulting aircraft would be large and expensive. In 1953, representatives from General Electric Aviation's newly created Small Aircraft Engine Department showed Northrop an engine that was approximately 400 lbs installed weight, capable of 2,500 lb of thrust. Northrop VP-Engineering, Edgar Schmued, saw the possibility of reversing the trend toward the large fighters. Schmued and chief engineer, Welko Gasich, decided on a small twin-engine "hot-rod" fighter, the N-156. Northrop began its N-156 project in 1954, aiming for a small supersonic fighter jet capable of operating from the US Navy's escort carriers. However, when the Navy chose not to pursue equipping its fleets in that fashion, Northrop continued the N-156 design using in-house funding, recasting it as a lightweight fighter (dubbed N-156F) and aimed at the export market.

In the mid-1950s the USAF issued a General Operating Requirement for a supersonic trainer, planning to retire its 1940s-era Lockheed T-33s. Northrop officials decided to adapt the N-156 to this competition. The only other candidate was the two-seat version of the North American F-100 Super Sabre. Although the F-100 was not considered the ideal candidate for a training aircraft as spin recovery was less then satisfactory, NAA was still considered the favorite in the competition due to that company's favored-contractor status with the Air Force. However, Northrop officials convincingly presented life-cycle cost comparisons which could not be ignored, and they were awarded the contract, receiving an order for three prototypes. The first (designated YT-38) flew on 10 April 1959. The prototype was quickly adopted and the first production examples were delivered in 1961, officially entering service on 17 March that year, complementing the T-37 primary jet trainer. When production ended in 1972, 1,187 T-38s had been built (plus two N-156T prototypes). Since its introduction, it is estimated that some 50,000 military pilots have trained on this aircraft. The USAF remains one of the few armed flying forces using dedicated supersonic trainers, as most, such as the US Navy, use high subsonic trainers.

The T-38 is of conventional configuration, with a small, low, long-chord wing, a single vertical stabilizer, and tricycle undercarriage. The aircraft seats a student pilot and instructor in tandem, and has intakes for its two turbojet engines at the wing roots. Its nimble performance has earned it the nickname white rocket. In 1962, the T-38 set absolute time-to-climb records for 3,000, 6,000, 9,000 and 12,000 meters, beating the records for those altitudes set by the F-104 in December 1958. (The F-4 Phantom beat the T-38's records less than a month later.)

The F-5B and F (which also derive from the N-156) can be distinguished from the T-38 by the wings; the wing of the T-38 meets the fuselage straight and ends square, while the F-5 has leading edge extensions near the wing roots and wingtip launch rails for air-to-air missiles. The wings of both the T-38 and the F-5 family use conventional skin over spar-rib structure.

Most T-38s built were of the T-38A variant, but the USAF also had a small number of aircraft converted for weapons training (designated AT-38B), which were fitted with a gunsight and could carry a gun pod, rockets, or bombs on a centerline pylon. As of September 30, 2017, 503 T-38s were still operational with the USAF, with many more in operation around the world. Most of the USAF variant aircraft (T-38A and AT-38B) have been converted to the T-38C through an avionics upgrade program. Improvements include the addition of a HUD, GPS, INS (Inertial Navigation System), and TCAS. Most T-38's have also received a propulsion modification to enlarge the engine inlet area and significant thickening of the inlet, this design promotes laminar flow of incoming air, increasing aircraft efficiency and engine thrust. The exterior engine inlet profile was customized for maximum aerodynamic performance and to maintain continuity with existing aircraft structures. The T-38's that experience more severe usage are currently undergoing structural replacements and upgrades, as well as receiving new wings, to extend their service life to 2029.

The fighter version of the N-156 was eventually selected for the US Military Assistance Program and produced as the F-5 Freedom Fighter. Many of these have since reverted to a weapons training role as various air forces have introduced newer types into service. The F-5G was an advanced single-engined variant later renamed the F-20 Tigershark. In 2018, the Iranian Air Force announced that an outwardly-similar aircraft, named the Kowsar, had been constructed within Iran.

Photo left of the first production T-38 built for the U.S Air force to roll off Northrop Grumman's aircraft assembly line in Hawthorne. This T-38 trainer began life as an Air Force T-38 trainer with tail number 59-1603 and was officially delivered to the Air Force on January 31, 1961. N963NA can be viewed at the Western Museum of Flight in Torrance, California. N963NA, had spent its last 16 years training NASA shuttle pilots.

Over the next 45 years, its journey as a trainer aircraft included stops at many military installations around the country, including:
1962 -- Delivered to Randolph AFB, Texas, to serve as Air Force Training Command's primary supersonic trainer.
1964 -- Sent to Dobbins AFB, Georgia, to serve as a chase plane for newly designed aircraft.
1966 -- Transferred along with three other T-38s to Los Angeles International Airport to help train astronauts for Manned Orbiting Laboratory missions.
1969 -- Returned to Edwards AFB, Calif., to serve as a chase plane and to help maintain pilot proficiency.
1972 -- Transferred to China Lake Naval Weapons Center with the intention of making it into a drone, or unmanned target aircraft, capable of being operated by radio control.
1974 -- Entered service at Navy's Top Gun air combat training program at Miramar Naval Air Station, San Diego. In this role, T-38 and pilot mimicked Soviet fighter aircraft to help train Navy aviators in air-to-air combat techniques.
1976 -- Returned to China Lake Naval Weapons Center where its rear cockpit received drone equipment. Over the next ten years, served as an air-to-air radar target, a chase plane, and pilot proficiency plane, participating in both manned and unmanned missions.
1987 -- Transferred to Fallon Naval Air Station, Nev., to serve as a pilot proficiency aircraft.
1989 -- 1991 Transferred to NASA, then underwent complete renovation, including replacement of key structural components; installation of new wings, new landing gear, improved ejection seats and radar altimeter; significant rewiring of the cockpit and nose sections; and replacement of its canopy and windshield.
1991 -- Returned to service as a trainer aircraft for NASA astronauts.
2007 -- Retired from active duty and returned to Northrop Grumman for long term static display.

Northrop Grumman has been producing replacement wings for T-38 trainers since the 1980s. A redesigned wing that went into production in 2006 will be used to retrofit the entire fleet. The new wing, which the company is producing in its El Segundo aircraft manufacturing facility, is expected to extend the operational life of T-38s to approximately 2040.

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