Originally Posted by
BEagle
Bob Viking, where there's a will, there's a way surely?
Why do you think that an updated Hawk wouldn't make a good advanced training aeroplane?
Sorry for the late reply.
I’m sure you will know by now that I’m a big fan of the Hawk as a training jet and it worked brilliantly for everything the RAF had up to and including Typhoon (certainly in its early days). It’s still doing a good job now.
For the future though the Hawk would need such a redesign in terms of manoeuvrability and sensors (simulated or otherwise) that it would effectively become a new aircraft and it would be just as easy to start from scratch.
Remember that the Hawk IS a dead project so this is a moot point but it could do a good job with a significant avionics upgrade and skip the handling side of things.
The idea of an avionics enhancement has been talked about since the early days of the T2 and I can’t imagine it has progressed any further.
Basically, it’s done a great job, continues to do a good job but, if a replacement is being sought (which CAS says is the case) then there are many better options than a fresh design in terms of cost and timeline.
If money weren’t an object I’d love to see a fresh British design. But from what I’ve seen so far I’m afraid I firmly believe the Aeralis isn’t it, as much as I’d love it be.
BV