01 October 2015 by Kim Helfrich - defencceWeb

85 Combat Flying School (CFS) of the SA Air Force (SAAF) is staying put at Fighter Town – AFB Makhado – but an investigation into an operational Hawk squadron at AFB Waterkloof is underway.

This was the official response from the Air Office of the SAAF when asked if there were plans in place for 85 CFS to move to the Centurion air force base, generally seen as the SAAF’s transport hub.

“The SAAF is currently investigating and testing the feasibility to re-open an operational Hawk squadron at AFB Waterkloof,” the statement said.

With a total of 24 Hawk Mk120s in its inventory, of which three are believed to be unserviceable thanks to accidents, the SAAF could set up a separate Hawk squadron with 12 aircraft. This would leave nine aircraft at the Limpopo base for training purposes.

AFB Makhado is also home to the SAAF’s only other fast jet squadron – 2 – which flies the Gripen. According to the Air Office there are “no plans for any relocation of 2 Squadron at the moment”.

Military aviation watchers generally maintain it would not be good to split the Hawk fleet into two because of the extra resources that would be required at AFB Waterkloof to maintain and keep the aircraft operational. They also point to the noise factor being a problem with the base surrounded by suburbia as well as AFB Waterkloof being almost in the centre of South Africa’s largest and busiest chunk of controlled airspace.

As far as actual flying training is concerned any Hawks based at AFB Waterkloof will have to “commute” to suitable airspace, the closest being north-east of Pretoria over the Wallmannsthal military area, before training can start. A commute to and from usable airspace will also add unneeded hours to airframes.

Another military aviation watcher asked if the possible move of assets and resources to AFB Waterkloof was not part of an improved defence system for Pretoria, South Africa’s administrative and diplomatic capital.

October 4, 2014: Strategy Page

Taiwan recently announced the retirement (real soon) of its 19 Hawk anti-aircraft missile batteries and over 900 Hawk missiles. This is apparently a message to China to brace for more formidable air defense systems. Hawk is being replaced by the locally developed Sky Bow II system. For many countries, modern versions of Hawk get the job done for local threats and is an affordable (less than $300,000 per missile) solution for air-defense needs. But as the Chinese improve their ECM (Electronic Countermeasures), especially the ECM carried by their most modern fighters and bombers, Hawk has become less of an obstacle.  Sky Bow II, using a lot of licensed American technology has much better electronics and the missile weighs 1.2 tons and has a range of over 150 kilometers. There is also an anti-ballistic missile version (Sky Bow III) that is supposed to enter service in 2015. While there is a mobile version of Sky Bow II, many of the missiles are launched from underground silos, which are much better protected from attack. The mobile version uses a box like launcher containing four missiles in sealed containers. There is a radar and control system (in a truck or underground) for every four to eight launchers. Sky Bow I and II were introduced in the 1990s and Sky Bow I is being replaced by Sky Bow II.

Each Hawk battery has six towed launchers each carrying three of the 590 kg (1,290 pound) Hawk missiles plus a radar, control center and maintenance vehicles. In the last 60 year over 40,000 Hawk missiles were produced and bought by the nearly 30 countries that used (or still use) Hawk. While Hawk has been upgraded since it entered service in 1959, some countries have gone beyond that. Back in 2011, South Korea introduced a locally designed and produced Iron Hawk II anti-aircraft missile system. This replaced three existing U.S. Hawk missile battalions. Iron Hawk II is mobile, with the radar and launchers carried on trucks. Each launcher truck has six missiles in sealed storage/firing containers. The original Hawk did not use the container system. Hawk missiles have a max range of 40 kilometers and a max altitude of 15,000 meters (46,500 feet). The search radar (with a max range of 100 kilometers) guides missiles part of the way before the missiles' own guidance system takes over for the final approach. South Korea had help from Russia in developing the AESA search radar and the Iron Hawk missiles. Because the main military threat, North Korea, is right next to South Korea, Hawk range is not a big issue.

24 Jun 2013 by Craig Hoyle –FG

London - Major deals involving the sale of 12 Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft to Oman and a combined 30 BAE Systems Hawk advanced jet trainers to the same nation and Saudi Arabia last year contributed to total UK defence exports worth £8.8 billion ($13.5 billion) in 2012, according to figures released by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).

Representing a 62% increase from the £5.4 billion figure reported from 2011, the total maintained the UK's standing as the second-largest exporter of defence equipment after the USA, with an average 20% stake of the global market during the past decade, says UKTI's Defence and Security Organisation.

Combined with sales of security equipment, the year-end total of £11.5 billion was similar to the volume recorded in 2007, when the UK government agreed a Project Salam deal with Saudi Arabia for 72 Typhoons.

"The Ministry of Defence has continued to play a key supporting role in the promotion of defence equipment and services, recognising that defence exports make a significant contribution to the government's growth agenda," says minister for defence equipment, support and technology Philip Dunne.

UK military equipment on display at the 17-23 June Paris air show included a Hawk T2 from the Royal Air Force's 4 Sqn and an AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat.