New Hawk flies in SA
Date: 17 June 2003
BAE Systems recently disclosed that the South African Hawk New Demonstrator Aircraft flew for the first time with the Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour Mk 951 engine on 27 May.
The sortie, at the South African Air Force's (SAAF's) Test Flight and Development Centre (TFDC) in the Cape Province, lasted around 90 minutes and included in-flight shutdown and restart trials. The demonstrator will be based at the TFDC for several months for development and integration trials with the new engine, which will power the SAAF's 24 Hawk lead-in fighter trainers.
The Adour Mk 951 is also being promoted as part of the Hawk Mk 128 advanced jet trainer package being considered to meet UK needs. Full SAAF trials of the Hawk will begin in 2005, with the service to operate two squadrons of the aircraft from mid-2006.
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