Six Hawk TMk2s are at RAF Valley for training the Qualified Flying
Instructors who will work up within No.19 Squadron, part of No.4 Flying
Training School. The new Hawks will be a vital part of the reorganised
UK Military Flying Training System under a public-private-partnership
(PPP). By this process the RAF buys the training service from a
provider without owning the training assets and equipment. This shifts
expenditure away from large capital investments to smaller, periodic
payments throughout the term of the contract.
The £600 million
contract was won by a Lockheed Martin/VT (Vosper Thorneycroft, that
was) working with the RAF and the MoD - the Ascent Flight Services
Consortium which is to provide all UK military pilot training. Ascent
is also to provide at Valley a new hangar complex with maintenance,
crew briefing and classroom facilities containing new simulators and
synthetic training aids.
BAES is supplying mission planning and
debriefing units, known as ‘data bricks’, and is responsible for
support services delivering aircraft on a daily basis in a condition
suitable for carrying out the training mission effectively.
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The uses to which the Royal Navy’s fourteen TMk1 and TMk1A Hawks
are put are less well known than those in the RAF. Twelve are flown by
the Fleet Requirements Air Directional Unit (FRADU) at Royal Naval Air
Station (RNAS) Culdrose and the remaining two are with the Naval Flying
Standards Flight - Fixed Wing (NFSF) at RNAS Yeovilton.
FRADU is
managed and run by civilian manned Serco Defence and Aerospace using
Hawks leased from the RAF. The main task for the FRADU Hawks is to
provide training to the fleet in the form of simulated attacks against
ships as either missiles or strike aircraft. A missile simulation is
flown in conjunction with Dassault Falcon 20s of Cobham Aviation. Hawks
are flown in close formation with the Falcon until they are ‘launched’
when they accelerate away flying the profile of the subject missile.
Hawks also cover a biannual multi-national maritime collective training
exercise from RAF Kinloss and a warfare officer course off Gibraltar.
FRADU Hawks also provide fighter evasion training for all RN helicopter
crews, airborne fighter controller training for Sea King observers and
also for students at the Royal Navy School of Fighter Control (RNSFC)
at RNAS Yeovilton.
The NFSF Hawks are used for fast jet continuation
training, familiarisation and conversion of rotary wing aircrew to fast
jets. Successful candidates progress to RAF Valley for advanced flying
training. NFSF Hawks also work with the RNSFC and assist the FRADU in
warship training. Close air support training assistance is provided to
the Army, the Royal Marines, the Special Air Services (SAS) and the
Special Boat Service (SBS).
Did you know that the
current leader of the Red Arrows is Wing Commander Jas Hawker and that
the first woman pilot to join the Reds is Flt Lt Kirsty Moore?