During David Cameron’s visit to India the delayed follow-up order
for Hawks was signed. It is for 57 aircraft, 40 for the Air Force and
17 for the Navy, to be built under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd
(HAL)at Bangalore. The order is worth £500 million to BAES and £200 m
to Rolls-Royce. BAES will provide engineering services, raw materials
and equipment to HAL and support to the Air Force and Navy. The total
Indian Hawk purchase now stands at 123 aircraft.
In India a new
software standard, OFP4, which includes electronic flight reference
cards, has been embodied on all 24 BAES supplied aircraft. HAL will
build it into Indian built aircraft (6 from kits and 36 built under
licence). Former Dunsfold (and Warton) test pilot, Paul Hopkins, is now
resident in New Delhi, with his family, in a Business Development role.
An RAF Hawk TMk2 (Mk128) recently visited Poland on the occasion of
a conference weekend marking the 85th anniversary of the founding of
the Polish Air Academy in Deblin. The Polish Air Force is looking for a
replacement for its ISKRA TS-11s suitable for training their F-16
pilots. An RFP for 16 aircraft is expected.
Flight trials of the Hawk TMk2 on-board simulation system, covering
air-to-air radar, radar warning receiver, countermeasures dispensing
system, surface-to-air missiles and a range of weapons, have been
completed; release to Service will be in October.
Work has begun on BAES’s £111 million In-Service
Support contract to support and maintain the RAF’s 28 Hawk TMk2s. BAES
is responsible for ensuring that the fleet is available at RAF Valley
for training RN and RAF fast jet pilots. Managing Director of Training
and Hawk UK Business is Kingston man Martin Rushton. The first Hawk,
XX154, resplendent in black, is now flying with the Empire Test Pilots
School at Boscombe Down.
In Australia the tenth anniversary of the Hawk Mk
127 has been celebrated. The first of 21 Australian built aircraft made
its maiden flight on 12 May 2000. Twelve were supplied direct from BAES
in the UK. Now 18 aircraft operate from RAAF Base Williamtown in New
South Wales and 15 from RAAF Base Pearce in Western Australia.
In Canada the Hawk Mk115 fleet leader is approaching
5,000 flying hours in just 10 years - about 10 hrs per calendar week.
The Hawks operating from Moose Jaw, home of the NATO Flying Training
Centre run by the Canadian Government with Bombardier, are used for
advanced flying training fighter lead-in training.
During the FIFA World Cup in South Africa SAAF Hawk Mk120s flew combat air patrols over all 64 matches
Updated on 122Aug2010