Hawk

The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, subsonic jet trainer that has also served as a low-cost combat aircraft. Designed by Hawker Siddeley as the HS.1182 and built in turn by British Aerospace and BAE Systems, it first flew on 21 August 1974 and entered Royal Air Force service in 1976. More than 1,000 have been sold to 18 operators; production at BAE Brough ended in 2020 and continues under licence at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in India. The type is known as the mount of the RAF's Red Arrows since 1979 and as the basis of the US Navy's carrier-capable T-45 Goshawk.

Development

In 1964 the RAF issued Air Staff Target 362 for a fast jet trainer to replace the Folland Gnat; after the SEPECAT Jaguar proved too complex for the role, in 1968 Hawker Siddeley began private-venture studies as Special Project 117 for a simpler tandem-seat aircraft with a combat capability. AST 397 formalised the requirement in early 1970, the RAF selected the HS.1182 on 1 October 1971, and the principal contract for 175 aircraft was signed in March 1972. Prototype XX154 first flew from Dunsfold on 21 August 1974, and the first export Hawk 50, with a greater weapons capacity, on 17 May 1976.

By early 1998, 734 Hawks had been sold, more than 550 of them for export. In 1981 the US Navy selected a strengthened carrier derivative that entered service in 1994 as the T-45 Goshawk, covered on its own page. On 22 December 2004 the Ministry of Defence contracted BAE Systems to develop the glass-cockpit Hawk Mk 128 (T2); it first flew from Warton on 27 July 2005 and a £450 million order for 28 followed in October 2006. The Mk 120, 127 and 128 share a new wing, forward and centre fuselage, fin and tailplane, with four times the fatigue life of the first generation.

Design

The Hawk is a two-seat trainer with a tandem cockpit, a low-mounted cantilever wing and an aluminium alloy fuselage of conventional stringer-frame construction. The rear seat is raised for the instructor's view and both positions carry Martin-Baker Mk 10B zero-zero rocket-assisted ejection seats. The rear-mounted Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour turbofan is fed by intakes at the forward wing roots; the Hawk 128 uses the 29 kN (6,500 lbf) Adour Mk 951 with FADEC. The Hawk 128 is 12.43 m (40 ft 9 in) long with a span of 9.94 m (32 ft 7 in) and a wing area of 16.70 m² (179.8 sq ft); it weighs 4,480 kg (9,880 lb) empty and 9,100 kg (20,060 lb) at maximum take-off, has a service ceiling of 13,565 m (44,500 ft) and a range of 2,520 km (1,565 mi).

The airframe is stressed to +9 g, with a normal RAF limit of +7.5/−4 g, and the aircraft reaches Mach 0.88 in level flight and Mach 1.15 in a dive. A dual hydraulic system drives flaps, airbrakes, landing gear and flight controls, backed by a ram air turbine ahead of the fin and a gas turbine APU above the engine. On the single-seat Hawk 200 the forward cockpit gives way to an avionics bay with a fire control computer, multi-mode radar, laser rangefinder and FLIR.

Armament

All armament is optional. A 30 mm ADEN cannon is carried in a centreline pod, and up to 3,085 kg (6,800 lb) of stores on five hardpoints; the Hawk T1 is limited to 680 kg (1,500 lb). Options include four AIM-9 Sidewinder, ASRAAM or A-Darter missiles on wing pylons and wingtip rails, two Umbani or Al Tariq guided bombs, and the Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon.

Operational History

RAF deliveries began in November 1976, replacing the Gnat and Hunter in fast-jet and weapons training, and the Red Arrows adopted the type in 1979. Between 1983 and 1986, 89 T1s were converted to T1A short-range interceptors carrying two AIM-9Ls and an ADEN pod. The first T2 arrived in 2009 and T2 training began in April 2012; every T1 unit except the Red Arrows retired its aircraft in 2022. A T2 crashed at RAF Valley on 23 September 2026, both crew ejecting with minor injuries.

Finland ordered 50 Hawk 51s in December 1977, 46 of them assembled under licence by Valmet and delivered from December 1980 to September 1985; as trainers they fell outside the 60-fighter ceiling of the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty. Eighteen ex-Swiss Mk 66s, bought for €41 million in June 2007, followed in 2009–10. India signed for the Hawk Mk 132 on 26 March 2004 and took it into Indian Air Force service on 23 February 2008: 24 came from BAE from November 2007, 42 from HAL between 2008 and 2011, and 57 more, 17 of them for the Navy, were confirmed in July 2010. Saudi Arabia bought 30 Hawk 65s under Al Yamamah in February 1986 and 20 Hawk 65As delivered in 1997, then 22 Hawk 165 AJTs for about $800 million in August 2012 and 22 more in 2016, assembled locally. Australia ordered 33 Hawk 127s in June 1997, 21 built in Australia, since brought to Hawk 128 standard; South Africa selected the Hawk 120 in December 1999 and ordered 24, the first Denel-assembled example flying on 13 January 2005; Canada's 17 CT-155s trained NATO pilots at Moose Jaw and Cold Lake until March 2024.

In combat, Zimbabwe's Hawk 60s flew airstrikes in support of the Congolese Army in the Second Congo War in 1998–2000; a British arms embargo imposed in 2000 cut off spares, and some were returned to service in 2022. Five Malaysian Hawk 208s and three F/A-18Ds struck militant hideouts at Lahad Datu, Sabah, on 5 March 2013. Indonesia received more than 40 Hawks before British concerns over East Timor blocked further exports, and Qatar's nine Hawk 167s, delivered from September 2021, fly from RAF Leeming in a joint RAF–Qatari training squadron.

Variants

• Hawk T1/T1A: Original RAF trainer, 175 delivered from November 1976; 89 converted to T1A with two AIM-9L and a centreline ADEN pod, the Red Arrows' version.
• Hawk 50: First export trainer with a limited attack capability, 90 ordered by Finland (Mk 51), Kenya (Mk 52) and Indonesia (Mk 53).
• Hawk 60: Export weapons trainer with the Adour 861 and a level speed of 1,028 km/h (639 mph) at altitude, sold to six customers from Zimbabwe to South Korea; basis of the T-45 Goshawk.
• Hawk 100: Two-seat weapons trainer with optional FLIR, a redesigned wing and HOTAS controls, flown by the UAE, Oman, Malaysia, Indonesia, Canada and Bahrain.
• Hawk 120/127/128: Second-generation lead-in fighter trainers for South Africa, Australia and the RAF (T2), with a new wing, fuselage and tail.
• Hawk AJT (Mk 132/165/166/167): LCD-cockpit version for India (Mk 132, Adour 871), Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar (Adour 951), the Mk 132 licence-built by HAL from 2008.
• Hawk 200: Single-seat multi-role combat version for air defence, anti-shipping and ground attack, sold to Oman (Mk 203), Malaysia (Mk 208) and Indonesia (Mk 209).