Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) officially unveiled its new Freedom Trainer at the Tailhook 2025 event, an aircraft designed to compete in the U.S. Navy’s Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) program. This project aims to replace the current fleet of T-45 Goshawk trainers, with contract award scheduled for 2027.
The Freedom Trainer is part of the Freedom Family of Training Systems (FoTS) and was conceived as a clean-sheet design specifically for the Navy. According to SNC, it is the only aircraft capable of performing Carrier touch-and-go maneuvers (a landing and takeoff without coming to a complete stop on an aircraft carrier deck) and Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) to Touchdown (ground training that accurately simulates carrier landing conditions), with an estimated fuselage service life of 16,000 hours.
Among its main features, the company highlights that engine-related costs would be 40% lower compared to the Navy’s current trainers and 50% lower than those of land-based models. Likewise, the design would allow extending the average duration of training sorties by 30 to 40%, reducing the need for service life extension programs.
The system features a Navy-owned digital design and an open modular architecture, ensuring that NAVAIR retains control over future upgrades, including the possibility of integrating third-party systems.
Jon Piatt, SNC’s executive vice president, stated: “SNC has worked to support the Navy for over 40 years, and the Freedom Trainer program represents the culmination of our experience and commitment to the safety and superiority of the United States Navy. We are proud to leverage our expertise to deliver a training solution that not only addresses current needs but also anticipates future ones.”
SNC’s announcement adds to the competition already opened in early August 2025, when Textron Aviation Defense LLC, in partnership with Italy’s Leonardo, presented the Beechcraft M-346N as a candidate for the same program.
The M-346N is a twin-seat, twin-engine aircraft with digital fly-by-wire flight controls and modern avionics. It incorporates HUD displays, large-format screens in both cockpits, HOTAS controls, and the Auto-GCAS safety system. Powered by two Honeywell F124-GA-200 engines, it reaches a cruising speed of over 590 knots and a service ceiling of 45,000 feet.
This training system integrates a Live-Virtual-Constructive (LVC) architecture combining real aircraft, simulators, and computer-generated forces, along with an adaptive artificial intelligence–based system that analyzes student performance in real time.
With these presentations, the UJTS program adds two main competitors, beginning an evaluation stage that will define the future trainer for U.S. naval aviators.
*Images obtained from Sierra Nevada Corporation
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