As part of the Talon Repair, Inspection and Maintenance program, T-38s will be inducted at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast to extend their operational life.
The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) announced that the first T-38 Talon of the U.S. Air Force arrived at the Navy’s Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) on Nov. 24, 2025, for overhaul and repair. The collaboration comes as part of the ongoing Talon Repair, Inspection and Maintenance (TRIM) program.
TRIM
The TRIM program was launched by the Air Force to inspect and replace key structural components across the entire T-38 fleet. The goal is to extend the operational life of the aircraft by five to ten years, allowing it to serve until the new T-7 Red Hawk is declared operational.
Currently, the service performs the bulk of T-38 TRIM repairs at its aviation depot facility at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. In August 2024, Air Force representatives from the T-38 Program Office reached out to the Navy’s FRCSE to see if it could take a portion of the workload.
“When the Air Force asked us if we could support working on their T-38s, our team took a hard look at it and agreed we could assist,” said Capt. Mike Windom, FRCSE commanding officer. “Taking on this workload is another testament to our workforce’s commitment to doing whatever it takes to support our nation’s warfighters.”
The choice of the FRCSE as partner in this effort is not casual. In fact, its seasoned artisans already have a wide range of experience working on a very similar aircraft, the F-5 Tiger II, which is used by the Navy as an aggressor aircraft.
Obviously, the T-38 and the F-5 are not the same, but they possess enough similarities that some of the tools and support equipment can be used on both airframes. This gives the F-5 artisans a leg up in starting their work on T-38, says NAVAIR.
“We discovered that while the F-5 and T-38 share similarities, they can also differ significantly, which requires us to be cautious to avoid confusion,” said Steve Clayton, FRCSE’s F-5/T-38 ground check supervisor.
Working in collaboration with the Navy will allow the Air Force to speed up the TRIM effort. This is critical as the T-38 is becoming increasingly old, being first fielded in 1961 in the T-38A variant and later converted to the newer T-38C.
“The Air Force has approximately of 270 aircraft they need to perform the TRIM package on by 2030, with the goal being 50 inductions per year,” said Paul Skinner, an FRCSE business management specialist. “FRCSE is going to take on a portion of those aircraft inductions to help them reach that goal.”
While the first aircraft only arrived this month at the Navy’s depot, preparations were ongoing for a while. In fact, since August 2024, more than 160 process engineers, logisticians, components and manufacturing experts, production leaders and support personnel from FRCSE have been working together and with Air Force representatives to ensure the command had the necessary support equipment, technical data, software and qualifications to ensure the command was prepared to work on the new airframe.
Additionally, FRCSE personnel made several visits to both Air Force and NASA T-38 repair sites to see maintenance and repair operations firsthand. In fact, NASA also uses the T-38 for the training of its pilots and astronauts.
“During the visit to El Paso to visit the NASA facility, their sheet metal mechanics were especially helpful,” said Troy James, an FRCSE sheet metal mechanic. “They took the time to walk me through several areas of the aircraft, explain component layouts and share practical knowledge of their day-to-day work.”
Then, in October 2025, Naval Air Systems Command, Maryland, designated FRCSE as a secondary Depot Source of Repair for the T-38, which authorized the command to perform the requested repair work.
“There’s been a lot of work put into getting to this point,” said Skinner. “We submitted over 180 pieces of support equipment to our manufacturing and plant services departments for them to make from scratch to ensure our artisans have the right equipment. This included things such as wiring harnesses, fixtures, and installation and removal tools.”
T-38 Talon
The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twin-engine, supersonic advanced jet training aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force and several other forces. The aircraft first flew in 1959 and was the first-ever supersonic trainer aircraft.
The Talon is used in the advanced phases of pilot training. In fact, following the T-6 phase, student pilots enter specialized track-specific training, depending on the type aircraft they’ve been selected to fly, with the T-38 being used for those bound for fighter and bomber aircraft.
Although questions about the safety of the aging T-38 Talon fleet have surfaced in the wake of accidents, the aircraft has continued to serve as an advanced jet trainer. The T-38 is nearing retirement from active USAF trainer service and will be replaced by the new T-7A Redhawk advanced jet trainer built by Boeing.
