- Yes
- No
Hello and welcome to my suggestion for the Hawk 203! The version of the Hawk 200 designed to be exported to the Royal Air Force of Oman. I feel this has a strong precedent to come to game as it is a mainstay of the RAFO and is also the Hawk 200 with the strongest connection to the UK.
History
Spoiler
In the Late 80s it was clear that the RAFOs ageing Hunters were nearing complete obsoletion, their airframes were worn and their weapons systems were completely outdated for a war leading into the 20th century and even despite their numerous upgrades and modifications it was clear that a replacement was needed sooner rather than later.
This is where the Hawk 203s story begins, the original Hawk 200 had very little luck before this, being rejected by the RAF due to its price and a doctrine that did not agree with a light attack aircraft such as the Hawk 200. However, Oman saw its potential, they wanted something more capable than the Trainer and COIN aircraft that other nations used, but they did not want to shell out the money for expensive jets like the Tornado or other supersonic jets, so they went for one of the best aircraft in-between, the hawk 200.
The Omanis bought what can only be described as a heavily limited version of the Hawk, it had no internal cannons like the prototypes (relying purely on a 30mm gun pod), did not have the FLIR nose option that was advertised with the early Hawk 200s, and they did not order any form of SARH missiles, opting purely to use AIM-9Ps and then later AIM-9Ls.
The 12 Hawk 203s initially entered service in 1994 alongside 4 Hawk 103s, here the aircraft served in two main roles, that of a Light ground attacker with bombs and air to ground missiles, and also in service as a Light interceptor dealing with airspace violations from countries like Iran where larger aircraft like the Jaguar and Later F-16 were either not worth or not available for the mission
So far 2 out of the Original 12 Hawks have crashed, unfortunately I have no details on these as the information is very hard to come by however I have been led to believe that both were Fatal crashes during training exercises. other than this the Hawk has had no combat losses at all, mainly due to a lack of serious combat needed, for most of their life they have just been involved with training and only on occasion have had to deal with light insurgencies from terrorist organisations operating in Yemen.
Photos
Spoiler
Hawk 203 flying alongside a Hawk 103, the 30mm ADEN Pod is visible on the centreline
1000lbs practice bomb being loaded onto the outer wing pylon of a Hawk 203
Hawk 203 model in the RAFO Museum, shows 4 AAMs on pylons
Hawk 203 Dropping twin 1000lbs bombs
Video Showing twin AIM-9Ls on the wingtip pylons
Royal Malaysian Air Force Hawk 208 carrying 4 AIM-9Ps
Hawk 203 coming in for landing at RAFO Al Masirah (30/05/2004)
Specs/ Armament (For more info check out my other Hawk 200 suggestion)
Spoiler
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 11.38 m (37 ft 4 in)
- Wingspan: 9.39 m (30 ft 10 in)
- Height: 4.16 m (13 ft 8 in)
- Wing area: 16.69 m2 (179.6 sq ft)
- Aspect ratio: 5.3
- Empty weight: 4,128 kg (9,101 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 9,101 kg (20,064 lb)
- Fuel capacity: 1,360 kg (3,000 lb) internal: 3,210 kg (7,080 lb) with 3 drop tanks
- Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour Mk 871 non-afterburning turbofan, 26 kN (5,800 lbf) thrust
Performance
- Maximum speed: 1,037 km/h (644 mph, 560 kn) at sea level
- Maximum speed: Mach 1.2 (never exceed at altitude)
- Cruise speed: 796 km/h (495 mph, 430 kn) at 12,500 m (41,000 ft)
- Stall speed: 197 km/h (122 mph, 106 kn) flaps down
- Range: 892 km (554 mi, 482 nmi) internal fuel only
- Combat range: 617 km (383 mi, 333 nmi)
- Ferry range: 1,950 km (1,210 mi, 1,050 nmi) with 3 drop tanks
- Service ceiling: 15,250 m (50,030 ft)
- g limits: +8 -3
- Rate of climb: 58.466 m/s (11,509.1 ft/min)
- Takeoff distance with maximum weapon load: 2,134 m (7,001 ft)
- Landing distance at maximum landing weight with brake chute: 854 m (2,802 ft)
- Landing distance at maximum landing weight without brake chute: 1,250 m (4,100 ft)
Armament
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Guns: 1 × 30 mm (1.181 in) Aden cannon with 120 rounds in a pod under the Fuselage
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Hardpoints: Total of 7: 4 × under-wing; and 1 × under-fuselage; and 2 × wingtip , with provisions to carry combinations of:
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Air to Air Missiles (2 Wingtip confirmed, extra 2 on outer pylons plausible)
- AIM-9P Sidewinder
- AIM-9L Sidewinder
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Bombs (Up to 4 (possibly more) on underwing pylons)
- Mk 80 series GP bombs
- British made 540 and 1000 lbs bombs
- BL755 Cluster Munitions
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Countermeasures
- 2 ALE-47 Bins mounted above engine exhaust (30 Large calibre or 60 Regular calibre)
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Avionics
- AN/APG-66H Radar (Slightly reduced capability compared to F-16A)
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Possible but Unconfirmed armament
- AGM-65D/G Mavericks (Likely as they have them in service and many secondary sources list them as having Guided Air to Ground missiles, but no primary sources or pics)
- Radar Guided Missiles (Oman, again, has AMRAAMs for their F-16s but unsure if they have been fitted to the Hawks (Unlikely))
- CVR-7/ SNEB rockets (Oman has them but no confirmed cases of Hawk 203s using them)
Place in Game
Spoiler
I feel this has a strong position to come to the game for two reasons; The first is that the UK could use with a unique top tier aircraft, and as this is a British aircraft in service with an Air force with such a strong connection to Britain then I feel this is a feasible addition. My second point is that this is the Main ground attack aircraft of the RAFO and forms an important part of the RAFOs ability to counter any insurgencies and other threats, for this reason I feel it should most definitely come alongside a potential Omani Subtree.
In terms of BR I feel this version of the Hawk 200 would come in between 10.7 and 11.0, it is fairly similar in capability to the Sea Harrier FRS.1 except trades some Armament and the VTOL capability in favour of much greater manoeuvrability and slightly better Speed.
Sources
Spoiler
British Aerospace Hawk 200: The Hawk Becomes The Hunter - #34 by FlyingOstridge
British Aerospace Hawk 200 - Wikipedia
BAe Hawk 200
Plus some other Files that are export restricted that I am not allowed to post on the forums for fear of being bonked by a mod
Videos of the Hawk 203