British Aerospace Hawk into the 1990s

Abstract

The paper covers a review of the British Aerospace Hawk aircraft programme. An overview of the main development events and entry into RAF service is included, which emphasizes the versatility of the basic concept. This was deliberately designed in by the original team in order to maximize the subsequent export potential of the aircraft. That this was an outstanding success is shown in the outline of the main export variants to date.

This background gives context to the main body of the paper, in which the new Hawk aircraft developments, the 100 and 200 series respectively, are described. These advanced versions are intended to maintain the market dominance of Hawk throughout the 1990s and beyond.

A final, brief review of the broader environment within which BAe is carrying out its private venture development of Hawk is included as a conclusion to the paper.