Sharper Claws

Hawk 127

Ordered in 1997, the Hawk 127 is a unique variant of the Hawk 60, and was designed around Australia’s AIR 5367 requirement for a lead-in fighter to replace the Macchi MB-326H. The aim of the project was to not only replace the obsolescent Macchi with a newer platform, but to ease future fast jetpilots’ transition to the Hornet with a cockpit that replicated its avionics and systems as faithfully as possible.

Thus, the Hawk 127’s ‘front offices’ are representative of a Hornet cockpit, and as such feature HOTAS, a trio of multifunction displays and a HUD employing F/A-18 style symbology. Other features introduced on the Hawk 127 included a detachable air-to-air refuelling probe, an upgraded onboard oxygen generation system (OBOGS), radar simulation, INS/ GPS and twin mission computers.

Another innovative design element of the the Hawk 127 was its health and usage monitoring system (HUMS), which provides structural fatigue consumption information on individual aircraft and individual pilot’s handling technique based on several structural item measurements.

Thirty-three of the type were ordered, with an initial batch of 12 UK-made examples joined by 21 locally-assembled airframes, all entering service in 2001. The entire fleet was then subject to a series of contractually stipulated operational capability (OC) enhancements, the prolonged introduction of which was not originally envisaged in the AIR 5367 requirement. It was, however, driven by the need to retire the exhausted MB‑326H, a process further complicated by the discovery of latent defects with the Hawk’s OBOGS, plus hydraulic system connector corrosion.

Remediation of these impacted the availability of the newlyintroduced aircraft, but steadily, progress was made. The Hawk gradually progressed from its basic operational capability one (OC-1) standard, which enabled pilot training to commence, to OC-2, with the certification of its stores management systems, specific avionics integration and dry air-to-air refuelling contacts, and onto OC-3, which saw full aerialrefuelling clearances, weapons drops and full mission avionics and INS clearances attained. Achieved in 2003, this represented the effective full operational capability of the Hawk 127 fleet.

Sea to sea

The Hawk 127 is operated by RAAF Williamtown-based 78WG which oversees operational training for fast jet types within Air Combat Group.

The wing is composed of three squadrons; 278SQN which provides technical training and simulation for the Hornet and Hawk, and 76SQN and 79SQN.

79SQN, based at RAAF Pearce north of Perth, has operated the Hawk since 2000, and provides introductory jet training for pilots selected for fast jets by its cotenant, 2 Flying Training School.

The squadron also conducts Hawk refresher and instructor conversion courses and introductory fighter courses for ACOs streamed for the Super Hornet. Other responsibilities include fleet support to RAN vessels based at Fleet Base West, and close air support to WA-based Army units, including the SAS.

On the east coast RAAF Williamtown-based 76SQN provides fast jet training to aircrew progressing from 79SQN, in addition to providing ADF training support. The squadron is organised into two flights, one training and one operations.

The former graduates two introductory fighter courses (IFCs) per year, schooling students (or requalifying aircrew) in the fundamentals of air-to-ground and air-to-air tactics and weapons employment.

Graduates then move to Operations Flight to conduct training and ADF support before then progressing to 2OCU to convert to the classic Hornet or 6SQN for the F/A-18F.

This significant upgrade will see the Hawk through to its planned withdrawal date of 2026.

OPS FLT also provides advanced jet training and fleet support to the RAN, close air support training to the Army and adversary training for Air Force units during such exercises as Pitch Black.

Under one roof

The contract signed with BAE Systems in 1997 covered not only the provision of 33 aircraft (including one static test airframe), but also covered 25 years of logistical support, to be reviewed every five years. BAE Systems is also the authorised engineering organisation (AEO) for the Hawk and senior design engineers work alongside TFSPO’s design acceptance representative (DAR) at RAAF Williamtown to ensure the airworthiness of the aircraft byaccepting (or rejecting) airframe or system-related design changes.

On July 1 2013, BAE Systems Australia commenced the $435 million Hawk Lead-In Fighter (LIF) Phase 3 contract that saw the continuation of already successful in-service support arrangements with the company that had seen a steady reduction in sustainment costs. Under the terms of this contract renewal, the company undertook to deliver deeper maintenance, engineering, full logistics and training systems support for the Hawk fleet based at opposite ends of Australia.

The task of day-to-day fleet planning and management falls to the Fleet Management Cell, which comprises representatives from BAE Systems, 78WG and the TFSPO, and manages all Hawk 127 fleet planning and fleet management. With the commencement of the new sustainment arrangements in 2013, OPS FLT also provides advanced jet training and fleet support to the RAN, close air support training to the Army and adversary training for Air Force units during such exercises as Pitch Black.

Under one roof The contract signed with BAE Systems in 1997 covered not only the provision of 33 aircraft (including one static test airframe), but also covered 25 years of logistical support, to be reviewed every five years. BAE Systems is also the authorised engineering organisation (AEO) for the Hawk and senior design engineers work alongside TFSPO’s design acceptance representative (DAR) at RAAF Williamtown to ensure the airworthiness of the aircraft by 78WG and DMO personnel from TFSPO took the unprecedented step of co-locating within BAE Systems’ Williamtown facility to better streamline support arrangements for the 127 fleet.

A week after the LIF Phase 3 contract was signed with BAE Systems Australia, its parent company in the UK was awarded a $200 million contract to upgrade the Hawk 127 as part of the AIR 5438 LIF Capability Assurance Program (CAP), which is designed to address emerging obsolesence issues with the Hawk 127 and introduce modifications that enable it to transition aircrew more readily to the F/A-18F, EA-18G and F-35A. The contract also specifies the provision of advanced Hawk 127 cockpit simulators, to be located at both Pearce and Williamtown.

This significant upgrade will see the Hawk through to its planned withdrawal date of 2026, andpossibly beyond, ensuring its continuing effectiveness as a fast jet trainer.

In terms of delivered systems and performance, it will see 78WG’s Hawks acquire near identical capabilities to those of the RAF’s new Hawk 128 Advanced Jet Trainer.

A common cause

As officer commanding 78WG, GPCAPT Bernie Grealy shares the same working environment as BAE Systems’ ‘Mr LIF,’ ex Mirage and Hornet pilot Kevin Rushworth.

Intimately engaged with the Hawk 127 for the last decade, Rushworth is currently project manager.

GPCAPT Grealy outlined the scope of the planned enhancements promised by the LIF CAP.

“The schedule calls for two V and V (verification and validation) aircraft to be modified for trials and development, and over the next few years we’ll start modifications to gradually convert the fleet to the new status. There’s a number of simulated capabilities that the mod will bring, as well as a number of real capability developments. The real stuff will include incorporation of TCAS, a ground proximity warning system, new mission planning systems, and a range of new software. There will also be a moving map capability and a datalink. ” The software upgrade draws on the RAF’s Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT), which is itself an evolution of the 127. Additionally, a host of other capabilities will also be simulated with the planned upgrade, including sensor, defensive aids and weapons.

“Simulation capabilities will be an expansion of existing capabilities that our classic Hawks have got. Also, a flare dispensing system and RWR will be simulated, along with SAM sites and a BVR missile cueing and fly out capability, which we’re all very excited about. ”Rushworth explained the anticipated trajectory of the LIF enhancement program, the modification work for which is to be performed in situ at Williamtown, “We’re subcontracted here in Australia to modify the V and V aircraft. That will be completed for an Airworthiness Board [review] in November. Next year, those two aircraft will be subject to a development and test program, and also initial operating test program to ensure that it’s exactly as the Commonwealth wants, or it may tweak as required to get the training it requires. At the end of the program, next year – it’s still subject to some adjustment that the Commonwealth may make – we’re planning to begin modification of the other 31 aircraft by the start of 2016. ” As the modification process gathers pace, availability of aircraft will inevitably be impacted as airframes are taken offline to be upgraded.

“In the past, that would have been an enormous headache,” GPCAPT Grealy said. “The Fleet Management Cell (FMC), is really kicking goals in terms of long-range planning, we’ve got some fairly sophisticated computer systems which enable us to slot every aircraft in for its scheduled servicing between now and 2020.

It’s a living document, so, as the ‘burn rate’ for a particular aircraft changes, it can be moved around in the schedule… And the FMC is constantly adjusting the schedule to make sure we have enough aircraft to meet the flying program’s needs.

Other things like fatigue management are also managed across the fleet, so we occasionally ferry aircraft between the east and west coast. ”

Simulation

In August 2013, another AIR 5438 milestone was achieved when CAE was awarded a contract to design and manufacture three Hawk Mk 127 full-mission simulators

The software upgrade draws on the RAF’s Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer.

to be delivered to RAAF bases Williamtown and Pearce in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Each comprises a faithfully-reproduced Hawk cockpit, surrounded by a four metre projection dome display featuring the CAE Medallion-6000 image generator that can render extremely detailed environments in any light condition. This level of fidelity also extends to 3D renderings of sea states from 1 to 6, and a full array of special effects that can reproduce tracers, missile trails, explosions, smoke, bullet impacts and craters.

The Hawk Mk 127 simulators will also feature Boeing’s Constant Resolution Visual System, which uses a decreased number of projectors to provide students with constant target visibility throughout almost a 360 degree field of vision. Rounding out this much improved capability isCAE’s common database, an open database architecture that enhances the ability to rapidly update databases for support training and mission rehearsal requirements.

“The plan has always been to increase the amount of sim time in the curriculum,” GPCAPT Grealy explained. “That development is on-going; we don’t know exactly how much time will be devoted to it, but I would think there would be a 50 to 100 per cent increase in the amount of present simulation. ”

Widening the margin

Under the terms of the Lead-In-Fighter Phase 3 contract, savings identified in the sustainment costs of the Hawk 127 are to be shared 50/50 between BAE Systems and the Commonwealth. According to Rushworth, the company was challenged by the then head of the DMO’s Aerospace Systems Division to identify cost savings in the Hawk 127 support arrangements. Reductions in maintenance outlays of 17 per cent were realised, according to Rushworth, by redefining the aircraft’s cost basis, while not impacting on its availability or rate-of-effort.

“Over 18 months, between 2010/11, we did an internal maintenance policy review. It allowed repackaging of work and allowed us to reduce approximately 15 per cent of scheduled servicing. That benefit was given back to the Commonwealth, which is another example of smart procurement. We have a very capable team here that do support and analysis work on all our repairable items, so leading up to the Phase 3 contract negotiations in 2013, we spent about 12 monthsgoing through every repairable item, generating a business case that said ‘what is the repair requirement, what is the liability requirement, what’s the current cost, and could we do it better? Could we procure, or repair locally?’ We went through every item, and it was value driven from the highest, down. ” One example of the many changes made was with the the radar emulator pod.

Produced by Raytheon, the EMPOD radar emulator pod is designed to simulate electronic emissions from airborne and missile threats for use during exercises with the RAAF and RAN. The emitter can also be automatically re-tuned inflight to any one of 16 pre-programmed threat emitter profiles, to further enhance training realism. Rushworth explained how its $3 million support costs came under scrutiny.

“It was previously supported by the OEM. It was reliable, the Navy loved it but it was quite expensive to maintain. So we gave the OEM the challenge, they found it difficult, so we worked with them to determine the best outcome for the capability and both agreed that we were best placed to take on this capability that allowed many cost savings, hence we were able to save something like 70 per cent in terms of cost to the Commonwealth. Raytheon to its credit supported us through this process as it was simply best for capability. ”

New feathers

Over the last 18 months, 78WG’s Hawks have been emerging from the paintshops bearing a somewhat more arresting camouflage pattern than had been seen previously.

“There were two triggers that led to that,” GPCAPT Grealy said in explaining the new, hi-viz scheme “Firstly, the aeroplane was about 12 years into its service life and needed a repaint anyway for corrosion control reasons and secondly, we’ve had an issue with the congested airspace at Pearce; near misses had occurred and one of the contributory causes was that the aircraft is very hard to see. So we decided to increase the visibility a bit. We started with the same pattern but accentuated the colours with greater contrast and gloss in the background. ”

Fatigue testing

The Hawk’s projected service life was originally calculated at 25 years, during which the aircraft could be expected to be loaded with high g’s during air combat manoeuvring, exposed to salty sea air during maritime support missions and tote weapons at low-level during exercises. Such usage profiles ultimately determine the airframe’s structural integrity, so it was decided to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the Australian Hawk’s fatigue life using the resources and expertise of the DSTO.

By the middle of this year, DSTO had completed 30,000 test hours of a projected 50,000 hour target, in a program that aims to discover when and where structural failures on the Hawk 127 are likely to occur. The results will inform proactive repair and maintenance measures, which will enable the aircraft to meet its planned withdrawal date of 2026.

Testing is currently underway at DSTO’s Fisherman’s Bend facility, where a BAE Systems-designed rig, equipped with actuators, is used to simulate loads and stresses on the Hawk airframe. (This is the same process by which DSTO was able to calculate the fatigue life of Australia’s classic Hornet fleet. )

Cost benefits

With sustainment costs a fraction of those of the classic Hornet (in- service support expenditure for the Hawk is less than 50 per cent of that of an F/A-18), its appeal as the platform of choice for the RAAF’s fast jet training is obvious. And, as Air Combat Group’s future aircrew progress to the ever-more lethal platforms of the future, such as Super Hornet, Growler and F-35, they can be confident that they have mastered the demanding skills of air combat in the finest classroom in the sky.