- Yes in the British Tech Tree
- Yes but in another Nation
- No (Please explain)
Hello! and welcome to my suggestion for the Omani version of the Hawker Hunter. I feel this has great potential for the better Hunter Britain needs and also as a great candidate for a potential Omani subtree.
History
Spoiler
The Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) acquired a variety of Hunters from several sources in the early 1970s, some were ex RAF FGA.9s, some were reconditioned ex Belgian and Dutch F.6s upgraded to Mk.73 standard, and a selection of T.66 and FR.10s from Jordan. Later two ex Kuwaiti T.67s were also delivered.
Some of these aircrafts became Hybrids, with Parts from RAF FGA.9s being put on Jordanian Mk.73s and vice versa, this resulted in there being no specific variant used by Oman, however it seems most were upgraded to essentially Mk.73 standard and above in their lifetime.
These Hunters first saw combat in South Yemen against Marxist Guerrilla forces, using a mix of 30mm cannon fire, 80mm SURA rockets and 1000 lb bombs the Hunters attacked and destroyed fuel convoys, ammo dumps, and on occasion an airfield.
after the First Jaguars came into service the Hunters were refitted with Twin AN/ALE-40 Flare dispensers and AIM-9Ps in order to keep the Hunters competitive in a modern combat situation, they were also fitted with the British made BL-755 cluster bombs for more effective ground attack.
In November 1993 the last Hunters were officially retired with the Last flight having been made the month before between Thumrait to Seeb, the total flying hours of the Hunters equated to around 4130 hours in Omani service.
Pictures
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Hunter Taxiing with 2 AIM-9Ps and 2 drop tanks
Underside of an Omani Hunter, twin countermeasure pods visible at the tail
Burnt out hulk of a Hunter after overrunning the runway on 30-09-76
Omani used Hunter at RAF Cosford for display
Pair of Omani Hunters escorting an RAF Nimrod R.1
Hunters drag chute deploying as it lands
Specs/ Armament
Spoiler
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 45 ft 10.5 in (13.983 m)
- Wingspan: 33 ft 8 in (10.26 m)
- Height: 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)
- Wing area: 349 sq ft (32.4 m2)
- Aerofoil: Hawker 8.5% symmetrical
- Empty weight: 14,122 lb (6,406 kg)
- Gross weight: 17,750 lb (8,051 kg)
- Max take-off weight: 24,600 lb (11,158 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Avon 207 turbojet engine, 10,145 lbf (45.13 kN) thrust
Performance
- Maximum speed: 623 mph (1,003 km/h, 541 kn) at 36,000 ft (11,000 m), 715 mph (621 kn; 1,151 km/h) at sea level
- Maximum speed: Mach 0.94
- Combat range: 385 mi (620 km, 335 nmi)
- Ferry range: 1,900 mi (3,100 km, 1,700 nmi) maximum external fuel
- Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m)
- Rate of climb: 17,200 ft/min (87 m/s)
- Wing loading: 51.6 lb/sq ft (252 kg/m2)
- Thrust/weight: 0.56
Armament
- Guns: 4 30mm ADEN cannons (150 rpg) in removable packs
- AA Missiles: 2 x AIM-9P Missiles
- AG Missiles: AGM-65 Mavericks (never fitted unfortunately but were capable of and only thing stopping them was lack of any in stores)
- Bombs: 500 and1000 lb bombs, BL755 cluster munitions
- Unguided Rockets: 80mm SURA rockets
Place in game
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In game the Omani Hunter would be a welcome addition, especially to the British Tech Tree and maybe even the start of a future Oman Subtree for Britain, for some context Oman has very strong military ties to the UK and several times in history RAF pilots have either flown with or in Omani aircraft in combat, in addition to this almost all Omani Vehicles are British with the Exception of a few (See the Omani subtree suggestion for more info)
now after that tangent I would like to add that this would also be a good PR move for Gaijin, after the train wreck that was the Swiss hunter I feel Britain kinda deserves a better Hunter for the Tech tree and this one has the most connections to Britain.
In terms of BR I feel this would sit around 10.0/10.3 as it has good missiles and CMs but at any higher of a BR the airframe will begin to struggle depending on the weapons it gets.
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