Wednesday, September 16, 2026Independent tracking of the National Defense Authorization Act

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Title II: RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST, AND EVALUATION

Sec. 235Prohibition on pilot trainees operating T–7 aircraft pending testing and corrective actions

TL;DR

Imposes a restriction: Prohibition on pilot trainees operating T–7 aircraft pending testing and corrective actions. A pilot trainee may not operate a T—7 aircraft of the Air Force until the Secretary of the Air Force certifies to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of…

Statutory text

(a) In general. A pilot trainee may not operate a T—7 aircraft of the Air Force until the Secretary of the Air Force certifies to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives that each of the following conditions have been met:

(1) All corrections to flight control laws and mission systems discovered in developmental testing of such aircraft are fully implemented.

(2) The subsonic, transonic, and supersonic full operational flight and performance envelopes of such aircraft are fully tested and characterized.

(3) Qualification testing of the Ground Based Training System for such aircraft is fully completed and all deficiencies are resolved.

(b) Pilot trainee defined. In this section, the term pilot trainee means a non-rated officer of the Air Force enrolled as a student participating in a formal undergraduate pilot training course.