Engineers from Australia and the UK have successfully completed a rigorous structural testing program that has seen a Hawk airframe achieve the equivalent of 50,000 flying hours. Hawk jets are used to train pilots from 13 countries across the world. The Mark 127 Hawk operated by the Royal Australian Air Force has a safety clearance to fly 10,000 hours and is the most advanced standard of the aircraft.
Air forces in the UK, Saudi Arabia and Oman operate similar standards of aircraft in their Hawk fleets with the Qatar Emiri Air Force due to become the latest to operate this most advanced standard of aircraft.
A team from BAE Systems and the Australia Defence Department have recently completed a major structural testing program on a specially adapted Hawk Mark 127 to put it through five-times this clearance...MORE
