Northrop T-38 Talon

The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twinjet supersonic jet trainer designed and produced by Northrop Corporation, the world's first supersonic trainer and the most produced. It traces back to Northrop's N-102 Fang and N-156 fighter projects, which Northrop adapted in the mid-1950s to a United States Air Force requirement for a supersonic trainer to replace the Lockheed T-33. Two General Electric J85-5A turbojets sit inside the fuselage to cut drag. The first prototype, the YT-38, made its maiden flight on 10 April 1959 and the type entered Air Force service on 17 March 1961. By the end of production in January 1972, 1,189 Talons had been built. The N-156 fighter version became the F-5 Freedom Fighter. The Talon was still in service in 2026 with several air forces, with NASA and the Navy among its operators.