A new Air Force training jet will not be built in eastern Alabama.

Developers proposed Tuskegee’s Moton Field as a site for an Italian manufacturer to assemble the T-100 trainer, but the Pentagon chose Boeing for the project.The news is a disappointment for officials who hoped an aircraft plant would be a badly needed boost for the region.

But Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield says it is good that the area united to pursue the aerospace factory.

The T-100 project would have brought more than 750 jobs to the region.

Instead, Boeing will receive a $9.2 billion contract to produce 351 T-X trainer jets, plus simulators and other equipment.

The proposed site for the Alabama project was once the training home of the famed Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.
(Associated Press, copyright 2018)

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