The Royal Air Force has proven the Hawk advanced jet trainer’s ability to operate in soaring temperatures, say the Ministry of Defence.
A pair of Hawk T2 aircraft from the V Squadron undertook a series of planned exercises in temperatures reaching 44 degrees Celsius (111 Fahrenheit) to showcase Hawk’s capabilities in testing conditions.
The demonstration included low level sorties and extended taxiing designed to exacerbate the temperature and prove Hawk’s ability to operate in conditions typically found in the summer months in the Gulf.
BAE state on their website that “Hawk is the most proven military fast jet trainer in the world” with more than 1,000 aircraft ordered and having delivered more than four million flying hours, training pilots across the world.
Peter Kosogorin, a Hawk and Typhoon test pilot from BAE Systems Flight Operations, said:
“We were exceptionally well supported by the team from the RAF’s IV Squadron which enabled us to carry out all the necessary exercises to demonstrate Hawk’s capabilities.
Not only were we able to show Hawk is capable of carrying out all the necessary exercises at high temperatures, the support team from the RAF consistently turned the aircraft around in under 40 minutes demonstrating its flexibility and efficiency.”
Please do some homework, your pic is of a Hawk T1 aircraft and V Sqn isn’t a Hawk Sqn, I think you mean IV Sqn……
Is the headline correct? Hawks have been operating in the Gulf for decades under these conditions. So is this the new ‘Advanced Hawk’ with the new slatted wing that’s being tested?
Exactly what I was thinking! It seems these trials are 40 years late…
No, Hawk TMk2 aircraft from 4 Sqn – no slats. There are nations of the world with hot climates who have been left disappointed by equipment designed in more temperate climates struggling in much hotter temperatures.
If a nation wishes to buy some aircraft, they might want to see how a truly representative configuration works in their conditions. The Hawks operating for decades in the ME do not have an avionics fit representative of a Mk128 or similar, and nor are other mechanical systems identical.
IV Squadron not V. Old GR7 unit.
The Hawk has been a great British success story, we need to think about an aeroplane to make after we stop making the Hawk otherwise this will be yet another field Britain has no product in.
I don’t think you’ll see another UK trainer, we have capability to develop one but not the political will. When BAe and Northrop dropped out of the US T-X competition it was the end of any new trainer from BAe via a JV imo. The Boeing Saab that won the T-X looks good and at $19m its cheaper than the Hawk and a lot of other trainers. Our best bet would be a another joint development but with who? Most US allies will buy the T-X, other options are the Korean T50 of the Italian M346. When you start including Czech, Turkish, Chinese and Russian offering its a crowded market. UK government is reluctant to support the Hawk production line pushing the Red Arrows replacement out to 2030, it now looks like it’ll be a foreign jet replacing the Hawk
i second that, with the us selecting the boeing/saab for tx i don’t see how any variant of the hawk can compete, its a 40 year old airframe and the us selecting it means constant upgrades/development, plus the boeing entrant looks sexy 🙂
Here’s a good article and explains what the Hawk is now up against. We’ve sat back for too long relying on an old airframe. Whilst it was success its had it day.
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/23898/boeings-t-x-win-is-really-much-bigger-than-just-building-a-replacement-for-the-t-38
There should be a Combat Hawk, with one seat, no training duties, aimed at the low-end market where you don’t need a Mach 1.5 for close support or air space denial. It wouldn’t hurt the RAF to have a reserve squadron of those to keep the a/c numbers up.
I just now saw the post by john, who apparently agrees partly with me, or vice versa.
There is… It is called the Hawk 200 and Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Oman all operate them. They are looking in to adding brimstone capability to it. Also the new Advanced Hawk is being developed for better use in this role too.
Chile needs to replace its trainers planes {CASA C-101} is some time. The Hawk with his long experience in the desert can be an interesting option.
Ive always wondered why we don’t use the Advanced Hawk to for use as light combat, maritime \ border protection asset
Surely it would free up some of the TYPHOON.
Why the GOV \ RAF doesn’t promote their use more is beyond me….
Other than the Red Arrows, Hawk seems to be ignored to easy.
Also buying a foreign replacement for the RA would be seen as a slap in the face
Hello John, The Hawks do double up as Day Fighters, It’s one of their other roles . But That was a requirement nearly 40 years ago now. By all accounts, they are still Uber manoeuvrable but Technology has moved on since those days.
Ha. The 88 Hawk re wired to accept Sidewinders. Paired with a Tornado F3 acting as radar carrier.
Point defence fighters if I remember.
Yes and They Have/had Aden too.
No gun anymore.
The Advanced Hawk that is currently being developed has much more modern radar and weapon systems. I do not think it would fare too well in a fight against a more advance fighter but it would be an excellent and cheap to run ground attack aircraft.
Agree, in uncontested airspace the Advanced Hawk would be cheaper to operate than the Typhoon.
Only some of the T1’s were so wired.
But the T.2’s aren’t.
As Mentioned Above, These have been Flown for Decades, Hot Cold Warm and Wet. Can’t really see the New News Here. Most Of My Pilot Friends have been through this.
Perhaps it’s just all been repeated with the T2
Yes but It’s nearly 10 years.
Don’t forget that middles eastern nations have been buying similar hawks to T2 for years – not T2 per se but very similar. Those are obviously proven already in hot conditions so you can argue that similar derivatives were tested a decade ago
Take the Hawk airframe, tweak it a little, put in advanced engines to give more range/payload, advanced avionics, decent weapons suite(AA, AS, ASV).There is no reason it could not go another 20 years. No it would not be top of the line, but neither would it be top of the cost.
I guess some of the Hawks still could be used in a time of threat to the UK as a second line of defence, but of course i know that’s a unlikely scenario at the moment. Quite often still see Hawks carrying sidewinders.