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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 0430.PDF
BRITISH AEROSPACE HAWK Despite the high political profile of programmes such as the Eurofighter 2000, the corner stone of British Aerospace's military-aircraft marketing and manufac turing until the end of the century will be the Hawk 100/200 series. The Hawk 100 and 200, in which the company has invested over £150 million ($225 million), are the latest additions to a family the first example of which was flown on 21 August, 1974, in the guise of the pre-production RAF Hawk XI. John Weston, chairman and managing director of BAe Defence, is bullish about the Hawk's prospects for the rest of the decade. He says: "For a front-end invest ment of £1 billion spent in developing the aircraft, and a sale of 175 to the Royal Air Force, the Hawk has earned some £12 billion in export business — more than 700 sold around the world — and re turned £5 billion to the national ex chequer in taxes and sales revenues. And that's by no means the end of the story: we expect to sell another 300 to 400 Hawks over the next seven years." The 100/200 series has been developed specifically for the ex port market. Peter Anstiss, BAe Mili tary Aircraft division director of sales and marketing says that, with the latest additions to the range, BAe has "...invested in new prod ucts to meet the needs of the world market, a big change from developing the aircraft primarily for the UK Ministry of Defence [MoD] and then trying to export it". Part of this understanding is to offer as wide a product variety as possible. In addition to the 100/200 series, BAe is also marketing the Hawk 50 (based on the RAF's T.I and of which seven are being built for Finland) and the Hawk 60. Both of these types are principally ad vanced and lead-in jet trainers, with the 100 combining both roles with that of a light-attack aircraft and the radar- equipped Hawk 200 is a fully fledged light-combat aircraft. Within each range of the Hawk series, BAe is also able to meet individual customer needs with avi onics and systems flexibility. Perhaps the best example of this is with the Hawk 100, with its capacity for a forward- looking infra-red (FLIR) sensor and a laser range- finder in the nose. A more specific example is South Korea's 20 Hawk 67s, which are Mk60 airframes to which the MklOO nose has been fitted. This flexibility can extend to something as minor as the symbology on the head- up dis play (HUD), with, for example, the HUD of Abu Dhabi's 18 Hawk 102s having symbology compatible with the country's Dassault Mirage 2000s for which the Hawk is the lead-in trainer. Another feature is the message "May Allah be with you", in Arabic at the bottom of the HUD, displayed until the wheels leave the ground. As Anstiss says: "It has been beneficial that the customer can select specifically what most easily matches his requirements." Anstiss also highlights another area in which BAe has responded. He says: "This market is made up of, potentially, a lot of small aircraft procurements. We have to gear up to cater for orders and deliveries in quantities of between, say, ten and 30." This means imposing tight demands on component suppliers and operating to just-in-time principles. With the 100/200 series, the customer is also playing a much bigger role in aircraft development and manufacturing. Malaysian engineers are involved in the production of the Royal Malaysian Air Force's ten Mkl08s and 18 Mk208s. Offsets are also a key factor in today's military-aircraft export market. Here, BAe is able to use its full portfolio of capabili ties to support the Hawk. For example, as part of its sale of eight Mkl09s and 16 Mk209s to Indonesia, BAe is providing technical support to Indone sian manufacturer IPTN for certification of the CN235 regional-turboprop. Anstiss concludes: "Our Hawk production is geared around a wide range FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 16 - 22 February, 1994
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