The Boeing Company (BA), Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT): Is Textron Inc. (TXT)’s Budget Fighter Jet a Bad Idea?

For those of you keeping track, however, competition for the T-X Trainer contract is steep with other contenders including the Hawk T2/128 from BAE Systems, the recently announced JAS 39 Gripen from The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) and Saab, and a U.S. version of Alenia Aermacchi’s T-100 trainer from Italy’s Finmeccania and General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD). Then again, while Textron may be entering a crowded field here, you can bet BAE, The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), and GD certainly can’t be too happy about the Scorpion’s debut, either.

What’s more, Peters stated the Scorpion could win additional business when the worldwide fleet of Vietnam-era Cessa A-37s eventually need replacement. In addition, sequestration is threatening to put the A-10 and Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)’s F-15C programs on the cutting block, representing another opportunity for Scorpion to find a home.

Finally, given the ever-changing intricacies of international export requirements, the Scorpion also apparently serves as a great baseline model that can be exported to U.S. partner countries, then modified at the end-location to suit customers’ needs.

In the end, then, while it’s an admittedly risky move to undertake such a monumental task without any pre-existing requirement or contract in place, there’s definitely a market out there for Textron’s new jet.

Now, assuming the test flights go as planned, all Textron has to do is secure some business.

The article Is Textron’s Budget Fighter Jet a Bad Idea? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Steve Symington.

Fool contributor Steve Symington owns shares of Textron. The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric Company, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Textron. 

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