Thanks for confirming what I'd always suspected - we at Dunsfold regarded some at Kingston as prats long before Wart On moved in !
I have to admit I am responsible for the photo's of the Hawk carrying Stingray torpedo's, - even then I was asking myself and flight test engineers " What the hell's this to do with ? " but got no sensible answers, so concluded it was either a secret project or more likely as you say BAe B.S...
While ' loading missiles with the aircraft on jacks ' is mentioned, well I'm not saying for a minute the Hawk / Sea Eagle was a good idea ( except I suppose as a last resort in war ) but the Harrier 2 GR5 had to be jacked up to replace the Sidewinder nitrogen bottles on the special UK fit pylons, as they had the outrigger u/c legs right behind.
I would still suggest to the U.S. Marines they're worth having though ! - especially as -
Since sorted by using very handy other types of launcher rails, I once photographed a mock-up Harrier 2+ with these & 6 AMRAAMS which seemed impressive to me - might need an airfield rather than carrier to 'bring back' though.
Last edited by Double Zero; 5th Jan 2008 at 11:13.