BAE Systems hands over first Hawk advanced jet trainer to Royal Bahrain Air Force

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    {
        'caption' => 'Front row (left to right): Mark Greenhalgh, Colonel Hamad bin Abdullah Hamad Al Khalifa (Commander of the Royal Bahraini Air Force), Mark Parkinson. Back row, Centre (from left to right) Simon Keith (Regional Managing Director - Middle East and Africa) and His Highness Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (Crown Prince of Bahrain).',
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Piloted by BAE Systems Test Pilot Nat Makepeace and Lt Col Omar Ebrahim Mohamed Al Mahmood, Instructor Pilot of the RBAF, the aircraft flew into Farnborough with the world famous Red Arrows aerobatic team before being handed over to His Highness Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain, and Commander in Chief of the Bahraini Defence Force Colonel Hamad bin Abdullah Hamad Al Khalifa, the Commander of the RBAF was also in attendance.

BAE Systems is supplying six Hawk advanced jet trainers along with a package of equipment, support and training as part of an integrated flying training system which will enable the RBAF to improve the number and quality of its frontline pilots by developing an indigenous aviation training capability.

BAE Systems CS&S International programme director Mark Greenhalgh said 'The handover of this aircraft is an important milestone in our programme with Bahrain. With four separate phases to this programme, we will continue to work closely with the customer to ensure they get the fully-integrated high-quality training solution they require.

Ted Gould, BAE Systems' International programme manager for Bahrain, commented, 'As an adaptable, cost effective training aircraft, in use by air forces throughout the world, the Hawk advanced jet trainer is ideally suited to meet the future training requirements of the RBAF.'