Gunship

A British-owned flying laboratory has arrived in South Africa to help in the
testing of the engines that will be fitted to the SA Air Force's new
generation Hawk training aircraft, the contractor BAE Systems said on
Tuesday.

The Hawk New Demonstrator Aircraft (HNDA) landed at Denel Aviation's plant
at Johannesburg International Airport this weekend following a four-day
ferry flight from the British defence giant's military aircraft centre at
Warton, Lancashire in the UK with stops in Pisa (Italy), Luxor (Egypt),
Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Nairobi (Kenya).

The company said the HNDA would be based in South Africa for at least eight
months.

It was excepted to play a central role in the flight development of the new
Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour 951 engine which South Africa has ordered for
its Hawk lead-in fighter trainer fleet, due for delivery from 2005.
The SAAF is the launch customer for the upgraded Adour engine.

Rolls-Royce, Turbomeca, Denel Aviation, BAE Systems and the SAAF are
involved in the development programme.

Initial engine development work was done in Britain.

The HNDA's arrival in South Africa heralded the more important second phase
of the work, with the engine being tested under typical local operating
conditions, the company said.

"This is good news for the SAAF and South Africa as it marks the
commencement of crucial pre-delivery customisation of the Hawk's new engine
for the SAAF. Clearly the combined Hawk and Gripen programme is on track and
we look forward to delivering these complementary aircraft into SAAF service
from 2005," said Stuart McIntyre, BAE Systems' executive director for South
Africa.

From SA Air Force Newsgroups
www.saairforce.co.za - the Official - "un- official" SA Airforce Web site :o