Update – BAe Hawk 200

So what does the Mk 200 offer?

Hawk itself is more than just another jet trainer. The type has performed flawlessly in RAF service now since the late seventies when it commenced replacing the Hawker Siddeley Gnat in the fast trainer role. To date the type has recorded more than 250,000 flying hours and the Maintenance Man Hours per flying hour are currently running at a level 70% less than that required on the Gnat. Export customers we are told are getting even better results depending upon which type the Hawk replaced in inventory.

Hawk is designed for a fatigue life of 6000 hours, it can carry a 6500 lb bomb load on seven underwing and underbelly stores stations and can go supersonic in a shallow dive configured in the air-to-air role. Maximum level speed is 560 kts and maximum altitude is 50,000 feet while at 60% internal fuel the aircraft can still pull +8 g with 3000 lb stores aboard. In the airfield defence role, for which the RAF is planning, a Hawk trainer can loiter at altitude for four hours carrying two 190 gl drop tanks, two AIM-9L Sidewinders and a centreline 30 mm cannon. Obviously, the RAF see these aircraft as being a very real deterrent to incoming Soviet threats if ever Warpac should make a push to the Rhine or beyond.

The single-seat Mk 200 features a HUD which can also be interfaced with the FLIR for night display. A multi-purpose CRT display is available which enables the pilot to easily assimilate information and acts as a primary head-down display replacing many electromechanical instruments. A navigation and attack mode can also be used on this CRT using the radar as an information source. An up-front controller enables all navigation/attack systems and communications selections to be easily identified and carried out while in the head-up mode.

Basically the Mk 200 would be the uprated version of Ferranti’s Blue Fox radar from the Sea Harrier. This radar is presently the subject of a major capability upgrade to not only improve the range but also to allow it to operate better in the important look-down environment. It is reported that Hawk could then carry the beyond-visual range (BVR) Amraammissilein in addition to AIM-9L Sidewinder and Asraam for close engagements. Gun armament would be either twin 30 mm Aden cannon or twin 27 mm Mauser as used on Tornado. Smart weapons include a full range of Paveway laser-guided bombs in addition to Maverick (already Hawk capable) and the new BAe Sea Eagle anti-ship missile. Power is supplied by a developed version of the reliable Adour turbofan.

In terms of mission capability, the Hawk is no slouch. In the airspace denial role a single Hawk equipped with two 190 gl tanks, 30 mm pod-mounted cannon and two AIM-9Ls can maintain a CAP for four hours at a 100nm radius of base. A unit of a dozen Hawks operating in flights of two supported by AEW orbiting off say, Darwin, would indeed provide a considerable deterrent to any daylight attacker. In the close air support role, typically in support of the army, the Hawk can deliver a 6000 lb bomb load (typically comprising 4 x 1000 lb and 4 x 500 lb bombs) up to 135 nm on a lo-lo-lo profile. In the battlefield interdiction role the Hawk can operate at up to 540 nm from base carrying 4 x 1000 lb bombs and two 130 gl tanks. This is comparable to hitting targets in Wollongong while operating from Amberley. Hardly a likely scenario but a viable demonstration of the long legs this little aircraft has. Similarly, in the photo-reconnaissance role a Hawk with two AIM-9Ls, two 190 gl tanks and a photo-recce pod on the centreline station has a range of 1950 nm which allows the sufficient opportunity to plan a number of alternative low-threat routes into and out of the target area while still carrying a self-defence capability in the all-aspect Sidewinders. Additionally, a Hawk can ferry a full 2200 nm, or from Sydney to Perth without requiring tankers or a refuelling stop. Finally, in the anti-shipping role, armed with two 190 gl tanks and a single BAe Sea Eagle sea skimmer on the centreline the Hawk can engage shipping at up to 800 m from base while allowing for 10% fuel reserves on return to base. All in all, even an F-15 pilot would agree that this is a fairly impressive capability considering the modest cost of the Hawk 200.

British Aerospace has for some time been trying to get the RA AF interested in acquiring a small number of Mk 100Hawks, say 20, for use principally by 2 OCU at Williamtown as a stepping stone to the F-18A. BAe feel that the performance gap between the MB-326H and the F-18A Hornet could be too great with a resultant slowdown in the conversion rate in addition to perhaps a higher likelihood of training accidents. Many Mirage pilots contend that the Hornet will be a substantially easier plane to fly in the ‘rudder and stick’ mode as its handling characteristics are so docile and predictable. The time taken to learn the Hornet will be spent coming to grips with tactics and how best to employ wide variety of multi-role systems. It is here that BAe feels the RA AF can save a considerable amount of money in that the Mk 100 two-place Hawk, with its full HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) control system and lively performance, can emulate much of the OCU Hornet operations at about a third the cost. While it is difficult to see Canberra allocating additional money to what would be seen specifically as an F-18A requirement, this may just come to pass a decade from now if the Hawk itself is chosen as an eventual replacement for the present fleet of Aermacch MB-326Hs in the late eighties or early nineties.

British Aerospace wanted to launch their single-seat Hawk back in 1978 but the board of the time decided instead to place the funding with the 146 airliner. The 146 is now a success and BAe Kingston must now hope that they too can emulate the sales success of their Hatfield compatriots.