An Italian-based aerospace maker will compete for a U.S. Air Force $16.3 billion contract to build a next generation jet trainer, the company said.

Leonardo announced Wednesday its U.S. subsidiary Leonardo DRS will enter the competition with the T-100 jet trainer.

The company split from a partnership with U.S.-based Raytheon to compete for the deal to assemble 350 jet trainers.

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is managing the competition.

Two expected competitors include Boeing, which teamed with Swedish aerospace maker Saab to build a new design, and Lockheed Martin, which partnered with Korean Aerospace Industries to build the T-50.

Deliveries of the T-X would begin in 2024, or possibly earlier, and continue over a decade. The new jet will replace the T-38, a supersonic trainer last delivered to the Air Force in 1972. The plane first flew in 1959 and has had numerous technology and life extension upgrades over the decades.

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Italian company competes for $16B US Air Force jet trainer contract - Dayton Daily News