Saab T-7A West Lafayette Plant (Tippecanoe County): Full-Rate Production Pushed to 2029

The public narrative around Saab's West Lafayette facility (aft fuselages for the Boeing T-7A Red Hawk, 350 aircraft, more than 1,000 Air Force pilots trained annually) is not wrong. It is incomplete.

Boeing's own SEC filings as of Q3 2025 warn that "risk remains that we may record additional losses in future periods" on the T-7A. That is a fixed-price contract already more than $1.1 billion in the red. In July 2026, the GAO pushed the full-rate production decision from 2027 to 2029. The low-rate initial production contract approved in April 2026 covers just 14 aircraft at $219 million. Saab has not published a revised headcount plan against the 2029 timeline, so the exact staffing gap is uncertain, but the aft-fuselage line in Tippecanoe County will operate below planned capacity for at least two to three more years.

If any of your supplier or workforce planning assumes Saab's West Lafayette headcount grows on schedule, stress-test that assumption against a 2029 timeline now.