- Yes
- No
With the occupation of West-Germany by the Allied nations coming to an end and West-Germany joining NATO in the middle of the 1950s, the newly formed Bundeswehr started to rearm. But due to not having a defense industry (for obvious reasons), the German Bundeswehr was at first given equipment from the Americans, such as M-47 tanks and F-84F aircraft. Germany then also aquired some of the more modern F-86 Sabres.
Looking for a new maritime aircraft for the Navy to secure the Baltic Sea from the growing Soviet threat, the Bundeswehr also turned to offers from other countries and NATO allies to buy from. One option that crystalized for the role of the Marineflieger was the British Hawker Sea Hawk.
Developement:
The Sea Hawk is the result of Hawker Aircraft first attempt to develop a jet-powered aircraft.
First ideas to integrate the new jet technology emerged in the mid-1940s and the development resulted 1944 in the first design, the P.1035. This design was then further optimized and improved into the advanced design P.1040.
But interest from the RAF dwindled, as they already had the Meteor and the Vampire jets in their inventory. The Royal Navy on the other hand showed interest in the navalized version of the project, which was offered to them by Hawker in 1946. Intrigued by the long range and the better performance provided by the Nene engines, the Navy released the specification 7/46 and an order for multiple prototypes was placed.
In September 1948, prototype VP413 had its maiden flight and testing began. Learned lessons were then implemented into the following prototype a year later, the VP422. Development then continued and in November 1949 the contract for serial production of 151 aircraft was signed. The name of the new aircraft being the Sea Hawk.
Two years later in 1951, the first production aircraft WF143 had its first flight and service testing began shortly thereafter. The Sea Hawk officially entered service in 1953. During its service time the Sea Hawk was then further upgraded and improved into the final FGA 6 variant. Notable during the service in the Royal Navy was its combat deployment during the Suez Crisis, where six squadrons of Sea Hawks operated from the aircraft carriers HMS Eagle, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark.
In German Service:
In the end, the German Bundeswehr opted for the Sea Hawk, citing its availability and good maritime characteristics as the main reasons for the acquisition.
68 of the aircraft were ordered, split evenly into two specifically for the Bundeswehr developed variants, the Mk.100 and the Mk.101. The Mk.100 would get tail numbers starting with V, the Mk.101 tail numbers starting with R.
Pilot training commenced in 1956. Both new and returning pilots were trained to fly the Sea Hawk. This training was done in cooperation with the US Navy in the United States. In a 21-month time frame the new pilots learned everything, from the basics of flying up to solo flights in the F9F Panther aircraft.
Deliveries of the Sea Hawks started in 1958. The first Sea Hawks were given to the new 1. Marinefliegergruppe (MFG) which was put into operation in May 1958. 1. MFG was stationed at the Schleswig (Schleswig-Jagel) air base near the cities of Schleswig and Jagel in northern Germany. The British were using this airbase before the Marineflieger moved in. As RAF Schleswigland, it also partook in the Berlin airlift 1948-1949.
From there, the 1. MFG was responsible for the Baltic Sea. In 1959 the 1. MFG was renamed to Marinefliegergeschwader 1.
Deliveries continued onto the 2. Marinefliegergruppe later in 1958, also established in the same year. It too, was stationed at Schleswig air base at first, but was then relocated to Nordholz air base near Cuxhaven later on in 1963. The North Sea would be its area of operation. It was also renamed to Marinefliegergeschwader 2 1959.
Both Marinefliegergruppen were equipped with the Sea Hawks and Fairey Gannet submarine hunter aircraft.
Active service was quiet for the German Marineflieger. Due to the cold war staying cold, the Marineflieger and their Sea Hawks did not see combat. However, they participated in different NATO exersices, the first one being the Tigre Bleu manouver in 1958.
A highlight in German Service was an airshow at the Schleswig-Jagel air base in 1961, where the aerobatic team Fliegende Fische performed in front of over 100,000 spectators.
Active service of the Sea Hawks in Germany did not last very long. With the start of the supersonic age, the Sea Hawks were retired from 1963 onward, being gradually replaced by the new supersonic F-104G and RF-104G Starfighters as the new Marineflieger. The last German Sea Hawks in active service flew 1965 in MFG 1 and 1966 in MFG 2.
After retirement:
After retiring from active service in the German Bundeswehr, 28 of the German Sea Hawks found their way to the Indian Navy, serving there onboard the aircraft carrier Vikrant until 1983. During this time the Indian Sea Hawks saw combat in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. The rest of the German Sea Hawks were put into storage and later scrapped.
Some Sea Hawks were preserved and are now visible in various museums. One of those is RB+363, which was first put on display at the entrance of the airbase base in Eggebek where the Marinefliegergeschwader 2 was stationed.
It was then relocated to the Aeronauticum museum in Nordholz after the unit was disbanded in 2005 and the air base closed in 2006. A different Sea Hawk, a Mk.100, can also be visited in Nordholz.
Pictures
Victory at Sea Memorial in Visakhapatnam, India
Practically, the Sea Hawk Mk.100 and Mk.101 are the same aircraft. Both have the same airframe, both are powered by the same engine, and both have the same performance. The German Sea Hawks were assembled and test flown at the Focke-Wulf facilities in Bremen.
And being specifically designed for the German Bundeswehr, the Mk.100 and the Mk.101 differed from the British and Dutch Sea Hawks. Compared to those variants, the tail and rudder areas were increased on the German variants, to improve lateral stability and handling. The image shows a comparison between the tail of a British and a German Sea Hawk. This difference can already be observed in game, when comparing the German Sea Hawk Mk.100 to the FGA 6 and the Mk. 50 variants in game.
The Mk.100 was a designated daytime fighter-bomber, the Mk.101 on the other hand was intended as a bad-weather fighter and reconnaissance aircraft. For this task, a radar system was installed in a radar-pod at the inner pylon under the right wing. This radar is the main difference between these two variants.
This radar was the EKCO-38B search radar.
Not much technical information could be found for this radar, so any additional information is very welcome.
The installation of the Ekco radar had some significant drawbacks though.
To put the radar screen into the cockpit, the gunsight had to be uninstalled. The screen, being very weak, had to be shielded with a rubber mask, making it impossible for the pilot to look outside while looking at the radar screen. And finally, the power system of the aircraft was not powerful enough to accommodate the power-hungry radar. The hydraulics of the rudder had to be shut off during operation.
The installation of the radar was optional though. The radar kit could be swapped with a standard gun sight, allowing the Mk.101 to be functionally the same as a Mk.100: performance, armament and all.
Another small difference was the possibility of installing cameras in the side of the fuselage right under the engine exhaust.
Technical Data
| Dimensions: | |
|---|---|
| Length, overall | 12,09m |
| Wingspan | 11,89m |
| Height | 2,98m |
| Weight, empty | 4208kg |
| Weight, max take-off | 7,327kg |
| Wing area, total | 25.83 m² |
| Tailplane & elevator area, total | 3.74 m² |
| Tailfin & rudder area, total | 3.45 m² |
| Performance: | |
|---|---|
| Engine | Rolls-Royce Nene Mk.103 |
| Thrust @ sea level | 23.13 kN |
| Max. speed @ sea level, no external stores, weight of 6143 kg | 964 km/h or M 0.79 |
| @ 6,095 m | 945 km/h |
| @ 9,145 m | 908 km/h or M 0.83 |
| @ 12,190 m | 852 km/h or M 0.8 |
| Climb speed, initial | 28.95 m/s |
| Time to 3,050 m | 2 min |
| To 6,095 m | 4 min |
| To 12,190 m | 14 min |
| Service ceiling | 13,565 m |
| Combat radius (typical) | 463 km |
| Radar: | |
|---|---|
| Range | 40 miles (for storm clouds?) |
| Band | X-Band |
| Peak power | 10 kW |
| There are barely any sources for the radar; any additional info is very welcome! |
The installation of the radar limited the armament of the Mk.101 to only four 20mm Hispano guns and the possibility to carry up to four external fuel tanks.
With the radar uninstalled and the gunsight installed, the Mk.101 functioned the same way as the Mk.100. It could therefore carry the same armament as the Mk.100.
This includes a variety of drop-tanks, rockets and bombs and the AIM-9B Sidewinder missile.
The aircraft RB+375 (a Mk.101) is seen here during missile firing trails of the Sidewinder.
70mm A2G rocket
Both sources state that a 70mm A2G rocket was mounted under the left wing during these tests. But the referenced pictures show a rocket that is clearly bigger than 70mm. I assume it is mislabelled as the rocket may actually be a TDU-11/B target rocket. See pictures for reference.
As a derivation of the experimental rocket, which was basically a training HVAR, it should also be able to take normal HVARs or just the target rocket as a makeshift countermeasure since it was used as an AIM-9B target anyway.
The Mk.101 would be a perfect early jet for the German tech tree at Rank 5, considering that there are not many options left to be added. It would also add a good (non-premium) CAS option for the early jet age.
The radar could be implemented as a modular modification for the aircraft, so the player can choose between having a radar, or having a gun sight in the cockpit.
Sources
Hawker/Armstrong Whitworth – Sea Hawk Mk. 100/101. F-40 Flugzeuge der Bundeswehr. (1987).
Hawker Sea Hawk. 4+ publications. (2001).
Communications & Electronics Buyers’ Guide, Who’s who & Reference Book. (1958).
