BAE Systems Hawk set to celebrate 25 years with the Red Arrows

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Hawk's first appearance in the Red Arrows' distinctive red and white livery, instantly recognisable at air shows the world over as a mark of British excellence.

'The Hawk has established an unrivalled reputation as a world-leading fast jet trainer and its success is reflected in sales to 18 customers, flying 27 different variants of the aircraft. Today, there are over 800 Hawk aircraft in service worldwide,' said Simon Keith, Managing Director, BAE Systems Middle East.

'First flown 30 years ago, the Hawk plays a key role, in the Middle East and elsewhere, introducing student pilots to the high speeds and higher cockpit workload associated with the safe operation of an advanced military jet aircraft.'

Capable of operating in extreme environments that range from the hot deserts of the region to the frozen tundra of the Arctic Circle, the Hawk is the world's most successful fast jet trainer. It's raised rear cockpit combines excellent forward visibility for the instructor, with the capability to demonstrate all of the aircraft's functions to the student pilot in the front seat. It excels both as an advanced flight trainer and operational aircraft.

From every standpoint it outclasses the opposition, a fact not lost on the Red Arrows, which in 2004 celebrated 40 years of breath taking and exciting air displays.

Each year the Red Arrows fly a punishing programme that pushes the team's Hawk aircraft to the limits. In an average year the team will fly about 100 displays. Its most recent five-week Eastern Arrow tour of the Far and Middle East saw the team's 11 aircraft fly a total of 556 sorties, spending 558 hours and 35 minutes in the air. Throughout the tour the only significant engineering repair needed was a throttle-top replacement on one aircraft which required 17 man hours of engineering work.

'I was very impressed by the resilience of the aircraft' said Sqn Ldr Spike Jepson, Red 1, during the Eastern Arrow tour. 'It was a particularly remarkable achievement considering the extreme weather conditions we encountered throughout the tour. This ranged from constant torrential monsoon rains for five days in Malaysia, to baking heat throughout the Middle East. I found the Hawk an extremely reliable aircraft throughout my time with The Red Arrows.'

With a top speed exceeding Mach 1.2, the Hawk is powered by a Rolls-Royce Adour engine producing 5,200lb of thrust. A strong and rugged plane, designed to cut training and maintenance costs, it first entered RAF service in 1976. In the current RAF training programme, the Hawk T1 is the first jet aircraft that a student pilot flies. They are used to teach operational tactics such as air-to-air and air-to-ground firing, air combat and low-level operating procedures to pilots destined for the 'fast-jet' squadrons.

The Hawk has achieved considerable success in the Middle East with sales to the UAE (Mk.61/Mk.63A/Mk.63C/Mk.102), Kuwait (Mk.64), Saudi Arabia (Mk.65/Mk.65A), Oman (Mk.103 / Mk.203) and Bahrain (Mk.129). The most recent Middle East buyer of the Hawk is the Royal Bahrain Defence Force (RBDF) which concluded a deal for the Hawk 100 Series aircraft in January 2003.

Designed around a fully digital cockpit, open architecture computers and airborne simulation systems, the latest Hawk variant, the 128, has been ordered by both the British and Indian governments. It will be used by Britain's RAF to train future fighter pilots who will fly Eurofighter Typhoon and the Joint Strike Fighter.