2003 a highly successful year for Hawk

2003 has been a highly successful year for the Hawk aircraft with three new orders announced and some significant delivery programmes both initiated and completed.

To date, over 900 Hawk aircraft, in 29 different variants, have been ordered, or selected, by 19 customers worldwide, and over 1.5 million operational flight hours have been accrued.

His Majesty The King of Bahrain announced at last year’s Farnborough International Air Show the intention of the Kingdom of Bahrain to acquire the latest variant of the Hawk aircraft to fulfil the future Advanced Jet Trainer requirement.

The Hawk aircraft completes a four-phase approach to establishing an indigenous Air Training Wing within the Royal Bahrain Air Force. These phases include selection procedures, basic flying training on the Slingsby Firefly aircraft, necessary and appropriate synthetics and simulator training leading to the Hawk aircraft.

In July, the United Kingdom, Ministry of Defence (MoD), announced that it had selected the latest generation Hawk aircraft, the Hawk Mk.128, as its future Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT). The initial contract, currently at the negotiation stage, will involve 20 aircraft. However, the UK MoD may exercise options on a second batch of between eleven and twenty-four aircraft.

The Hawk Mk.128 will enter Royal Air Force squadron service in April 2008, and will incorporate a number of advanced features, including an enhanced cockpit layout with Head-Up Display (HUD); three, full-colour, Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Displays (AMLCD); and Hands-On-Throttle-And Stick (HOTAS) controls. Cockpit instrumentation will be fully compatible with the use of Night Vision Goggles (NVG), for enhanced pilot situational awareness during night operations.

The Hawk Mk.128 will also feature new Open Architecture Mission Computers for future growth potential; an enhanced Stores Management System (SMS) enabling the carriage of a wide range of weaponry including the latest ‘smart’ weapons; Inertial Navigation / Global Positioning System (IN/GPS) for enhanced navigation and weapon aiming accuracy; an On-Board Oxygen Generation System (OBOGS); Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR) capability; and a Health & Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) guaranteeing Fatigue Life of 10,000 hours.

Future enhancements to the aircraft will include a synthetic sensor and weapons capability, Digital Moving Map (DMM), Ground Proximity Warning (GPW), an autopilot, and electronic checklists.

The Hawk Mk.128 will be powered by the new Rolls Royce / Turbomeca Adour Mk.951 turbofan engine, rated at 6,500 lbst, and equipped with Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC).

The Hawk Mk.128 represents a quantum leap in training capability over the current Hawk T.Mk.1A aircraft, and will provide highly cost-effective training for student pilots, who are destined to operate in the digital cockpit environments of front line combat aircraft like Eurofighter Typhoon, and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

Following the RAF’s selection of Hawk, the Indian Air Force announced its selection of an advanced version of the Hawk, to fulfil its future Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) requirement. Technical discussions and contract negotiations, for up to 66 aircraft, are progressing well, and should be completed by the year end.

Designated Hawk Mk.132, the Indian aircraft will be similar to the Hawk Mk.115 aircraft operated by the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) programme, except for minor changes to the aircraft cockpits. The aircraft will also feature a significant amount of indigenous Indian equipment, particularly with regard to avionic systems.

Of the 66 aircraft to be supplied to India, 24 will be produced and assembled in the United Kingdom, with the remaining 42 aircraft being supplied in kit form, for final assembly by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at Bangalore.

As India has a pressing need to modernise its fleet of advanced flying training aircraft, future orders for additional Hawk aircraft are deemed likely.

In September, BAE SYSTEMS completed a highly successful Fuselage Replacement Programme (FRP) for Hawk T.Mk.1/1A aircraft of the Royal Air Force.

The Fuselage Replacement Programme, covering 80 aircraft, involved the replacement of existing centre-rear and rear fuselage assemblies, with structurally enhanced assemblies, designed and produced to the same standard as those of later Hawk 60 Series export variants. The programme was completed on time and on budget, and will extend the service life of the modified aircraft to 2010 and beyond.

Another significant Hawk programme milestone was reached in October, when the first South African Air Force Hawk Mk.120 aircraft, SA001, made a successful maiden flight from BAE SYSTEMS’ Warton facility. Powered by an interim development standard Adour Mk.951 turbofan engine, the aircraft was airborne for 29 minutes, during which time, a number of test points were successfully cleared. SA001 made two further test flights from Warton, before departing for South Africa.

Hawk has achieved considerable success in the Middle East with sales to the UAE (Mk.61/Mk.63A/Mk.63C/Mk.102), Kuwait (Mk.64), Saudi Arabia (Mk.65/Mk.65A), Oman (Mk.103 / Mk.203) and Bahrain (Mk.129).

With its programme of continuous development, and the flexibility to meet all customer requirements, Hawk is well placed to maintain its prime position in the Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) market. Central to this on-going development effort is the Hawk New Demonstrator Aircraft (HNDA), ZJ951, which made its maiden flight in August 2002.

Equipped with digital avionic and on-board systems, similar to those of the Royal Australian Air Force, Hawk Mk.127 Lead-In Fighter (LIF), HNDA is currently being utilised as a development platform for the new Rolls Royce / Turbomeca Adour Mk.951 turbofan engine, and is undertaking flight trials of the engine, in South Africa. The aircraft will return to the United Kingdom early in 2004, and will be utilised in support of future Hawk aircraft developments.

An unrivalled pedigree, unparalleled operational experience and a continuously funded development programme, ensure that Hawk is ideally positioned to fulfil the ever-changing requirements of front line training.

The latest generation of Hawk aircraft draws on the operational experience of customers worldwide, and in addition, incorporates state-of-the-art digital avionic and on-board systems.

A highly capable, fourth generation, fighter trainer, the latest generation of Hawk aircraft provides a seamless transition between Basic Flying Training (BFT) and Operational Conversion to fourth generation front line combat aircraft like Eurofighter Typhoon, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the F-18 Hornet, Rafale and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

However, like its predecessors, the aircraft continues to offer safe, predictable handling characteristics in all regimes of flight, even when heavily loaded. Equally, the aircraft continues to offer customers, high sortie rates, reduced turn round times, high reliability and significantly reduced maintenance requirements. In short, Hawk is the most capable and cost-effective, fourth generation trainer in the world today.