The Red Arrows
team of nine pilots for the
2010 season, led by SLdr Ben Murphy, for the first time includes a
woman pilot, FltLt Kirsty Moore, although the RAF has had female
aircrew for nearly two decades. Selection for the ‘Reds’ is a
considerable achievement in itself as each year 30 - 40 pilots apply
for the very few vacancies. Flt Lt Moore, a Tornado GR4 pilot, has an
MSc in aeronautical engineering and has seen combat in Iraq. Her father
is a Tornado navigator who was shot down and captured in the first Gulf
War, and her husband is an RAF advanced weapons instructor. The
Association can look forward to a talk from her once she has had time
to relax a bit.
The 221st, and
last, T-45 Goshawk
was delivered by Boeing to the US Navy on the 20th October 2009 in a
ceremony at St Louis. The centre and rear fuselages, wings, air
intakes, canopies and windscreens had all been built by BAe and BAES
over the past twenty years. BAES continues to provide in-service
support via Boeing. Future upgrades are a possibility.
New customers for Hawk are being sought, one of the biggest
opportunities being the Advanced European Jet Pilot Trainer (AEJPT)
programme to serve nine European nations (Belgium, Finland, France,
Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden) requiring 100 -
150
aircraft. BAES is responding, with the Hawk AJT/T2, to a Request for
Information (RFI). Collaborative agreements have already been reached
by BAES with industry partners on the Continent. The
in-service date
is expected to be 2014 with a Request for Proposal (RFP) in late 2010 -
early 2011.
BAES has also responded to two RFIs issued by the USAF for
a T-38 Talon replacement for which there is no suitable indigenous
aircraft. Some 350 - 500 are required to be in-service in 2017 and an
RFP is expected early in 2011. Discussions are in hand with potential
US partners. Both requirements are for complete training systems.
Also,
Poland is looking for a new lead-in fighter trainer which might be for
new or second-hand aircraft. In the latter case upgraded Finnish Hawks
might be offered. A middle-east country is also seeking new trainers.
An upgraded and more capable software standard has been
delivered for
the South African Hawk Mk120 fleet’s navigation and weapons system
(OC3D). The system was developed in South Africa by Advanced
Technologies & Engineering and BAES.
The last of 24 BAES
built Hawk Mk132s for India was handed over in October 2009. It was
actually the first aircraft, HT001, which was retained in the UK (as
ZK121) for nearly three years as the type development and instructor
training aircraft.
The Royal
Navy Hawk fleet of six aircraft at
RNAS Culdrose has been carrying a special ‘Fly Navy 100’ livery
throughout 2009 to mark the centenary of the ‘Fleet Air Arm‘.
Updated on
22Feb2010