Mega stakes as defense companies face deadline on Air Force trainer bid

A deadline is looming next week for the decade's last undecided combat aircraft competition, which carries high stakes and billions of dollars for the winner.

Lockheed Martin and Boeing, neck and neck, are set to turn over flight performance data to the Air Force on their proposals for the T-X jet, the next combat training aircraft for the Air Force.

With $16.3 billion at stake, a contract award is expected later this year.

The T-X jet won't actually be blasting enemy air defenses or waging dog fights over future battlefields, at least not for the United States. But it will be doing the fighting virtually as a trainer for the service.

The new jet will prepare airmen to pilot advanced aircraft such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor, and it could be doing it so for the next 50 years, meaning a big win for the defense contractor that clinches the deal.