Hawk Mk.132 of the IAF (Photo: Angad Singh)
While there are numerous tales associated with majestic battle machines, performing on the frontlines and acting as primary caretakers of Indian Air Defence, we have missed a quiet number of interesting anecdotes of some platforms that serve behind the scenes. The Hawk is one of them that is undoubtedly shouldering the responsibility of one of the principal tasks in the Indian Air Force, which is to train the aviators and offer exposure to the future top guns of IAF. Combat aviation is not just about excellent flying, but performing risky tasks, and applying full-fledged efforts to achieve the objectives in combat. All this, while evading a variety of threats, ranging from high Gs to hostile airborne/surfacebased threats. This demands conciseness and merit, both physically and mentally, and that is why mastering the British Aerospace (BAe) Hawk Mk.132 is the core of the Stage III pilot training programme of IAF, preparing the pilots in a simulated environment, before they head into their operational squadrons and execute the learnings in real-world challenges. We are going ahead to explore this significant yet rarely discussed platform, looking at the procurement process that took 19 long years, the modern capabilities it carries apart from a trainer, and the foreseeable future to multiply its potential.
Acquisition, that took longer than the infamous MMRCA
The Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender is quite well known for the disappointments it brought, if we talk about the time taken before it was formally scrapped with new tender replacing it with less airframes procured. However, while it took 8 years for New Delhi to finally sign the deal for new supersonic fighter aircraft, the same nation had to wait for 18 years to purchase a much less costly jet trainer. In 1986, the IAF Air Staff Requirements (ASR) pitched the demand for new Advanced Jet Trainers, on the advice of the La Fontaine Committee, a dedicated committee that studied the accidents in IAF between April 1977 to August 1982 and came to the conclusion that human error turned out as a primary cause of the majority of accidents, especially in the MiG-21 cases as pilots were used to be transferred directly to the supersonic fighter after completing the preliminary jet training. Back then, after completing Stage-I (basic) training on piston engine HT-2, HPT-32, IAF had homegrown Kiran and Polish TLS-11 Iskra for Stage 2 (intermediate) jet training services, while Hunter F56/T.66 under Operational Training Unit (OTU) would impart Stage-III (advanced weapon and tactics) training (since 1967). The training was said to be inadequate for pilots to adapt with more complex machines in the air arm, like the MiG-21, which was in fact the backbone of IAF in the period. MiG Operational Flying Training Unit (MOFTU) formation in 1986 with MiG- 21FL/U aircraft turned unsustainable in the long term since it was not an ideal platform for newcomers. The Soviet machine needed excellent experience with a precise manmachine bond to perform well, and young pilots had to witness fatal side effects if committed a single mistake. The ASR demanded a dedicated jet trainer aircraft to facilitate safe and docile training sessions for cadets, especially in the spin and recovery processes. Furthermore, it could be capable of providing weapon and tactics training as well, flaunting armament like rockets and cannon.
Between 1986 to 2002, multiple overseas AJT designs were evaluated, which included Spanish CASA Aviojet, Italian Aermacchi MBB-339, SIAI-Marchetti S.221, Franco-German Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jet, Czech Aero L-39 and L-159, Russian MiG-AT, and finally British Aerospace Hawk. Two platforms, Alpha Jet and Hawk stood on the standards set by the Indian Air Force. However, when the tender was formally floated in 2000 for acquisition and price negotiations, only BAe submitted its proposal as Alpha Jet production was already suspended in 1991. The price negotiation committee came to the final price of USD 9 Million per aircraft, featuring all US-built components replaced by British-origin counterparts, as India was still reviving from the sanctions imposed by Uncle Sam after nuclear tests in late 1988. Though the original requirement was for 122 airframes, the consequent delays led to rewarding the contract to BAE Systems on 26 March 2004 for 66 aircraft, with 24 to be built-in United Kingdom while the rest 42 by HAL Aircraft Division in Bengaluru on license. In 2008, the first Hawks entered service under Hawk Operational Training Squadron (HOTS) at Air Force Station Bidar, Karnataka, replacing the legacy MOFTU and MiG-21s. In 2010, a follow-up order was placed for 57 airframes, worth over US$590 million, in which 17 units would be built for the Indian Navy as well, which was also seeking a compatible solution for training naval aviators before they jump into MiG-29K, which would become the sole fighter jet serving in the Indian Naval Air Arm. So, how long did it take for India to find a viable solution for modern Stage III training of aviators? 19 years, and innumerable peacetime deaths to be precise.
Hawk in IAF today
With over 100 airframes in active service, the Hawk Mk132 fleet is unquestionably the mainstay of the IAF jet training programme, the strength of which lies in providing safe but imperative exposure to young guns before they hold the stick for their first and future solo combat aircraft sorties. The jet offers great stability and capability to perform a great range of aerobatics, with complete control on all three axes. The aircraft has the potential to withstand negative ‘g’ capability while being inverted for 30 seconds. Surya Kiran Aerobatics Team (SKAT), proudly flaunts itself as “The Ambassadors of Indian Air Force” while having 9 Hawks in the inventory that pulled off several successful air shows in India and overseas since 2016, with the latest overseas deployment done during Dubai Air Show 2021. Alongside being a trainer and aerobatics platform, the Hawk can also act as a credible attack aircraft. Fitted with Rocket and Gun Pods on its four hardpoints, the aircraft can effectively perform slow-speed Close Air Support (CAS) missions to support ground forces in offensive and defensive scenarios. The all-weather robust airframe can be launched for training and combat missions in either day or night conditions. In 2019, the Vayu Shakti Fire Power Demonstration put up a striking public show involving the Hawk firing a salvo of rockets on a simulated hostile vehicle convoy, proving its ability to carry out such direct Within Visual Range (WVR) strike missions with precision.
Future of Hawk: Smarter, Bolder and Commendable
The modern-day Hawk Mk132 is good enough to fulfill the requirements of the Indian Air Force in the contemporary warfare demands. However, as the battlefield is an ever-evolving subject, people at the Air HQ are very much interested to prepare the platform for threats of the future as well. For this, a smarter derivative termed “Hawk-i” is flying today that will be embedded with state-of-the-art technologies. Initially, there was a plan to co-develop “Advanced Hawk” with BAE Systems but later the programme was shelved by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). In August same year, the 100th unit of Hawk was rolled out from the HAL factory, designated “Hawk-i” and it was specially configured to act as a testbed for various programmes on the platform, converting it from limited attack aircraft to a dedicated combat solution. The airframe already carries an indigenous Radio Altimeter, Identification to Friend or Foe (IFF) MK-XII, Data Transfer system, Counter Measures Deployment System (CMDS), and Radar Warning System under its customised avionics and Electronic Warfare architecture. It also introduced the upgradation of ground attack package, one of which is the addition of Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW), the maiden launch test of which was carried out in January 2021, is an indigenous precision-guided munition designed against runways, bunkers, aircraft hangars and similar reinforced structures within range up to 100 kilometres, employing Inertial Navigation System (INS) complemented by GPS. More system integrations are planned, which includes similar precision guided munition and laser designator pod. Then is the plan of enhancing the self-protection capability with new Close Combat Missiles (CCMs), the current one in process of integration is the MBDA Advanced Short Range Air-to- Air Missile (ASRAAM), touted to be one of the smartest weapons for WVR air combat, with a range up to 50 kilometers, homing on the target by an Imaging Infra-Red (IIR) seeker and incorporating approximately 90-degree High Off-BoreSight (HOBS) lock-on capability, evincing its precision and agility in slow speed aerial engagements. However, firing trials are pending but scheduled to be conducted soon. Apart from all these, the programme is also under work to make it a drone carrier, that would launch a swarm of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) while airborne. NewSpace Research and Technologies, a Bengaluru-based start-up is already in collaboration with HAL to roll out the drone that would be used for such missions, named ALFA-S, or Air-Launched Flexible Asset (Swarm). Pre-mission, these would be fed with target information, like location and type, that could be a radar, the surface to air missile, or a strategic site, and when launched, they would navigate towards the target location and carry out suicide missions, hitting the target using the high explosive warhead carried onboard. Airborne deployment of swarm UAVs is still being studied by nations like the United States, China, Russia and a few European countries but there is yet any example of successful implementation of the project by any such nation. Once fully developed by India, Hawk-I would be the first of its type (light subsonic aircraft) to carry the role of a drone carrier. Overall, while AJT Hawk is very effectively doing its job, already clocking more than 1,00,000 hours (last recorded in 2017), its future is very well planned that seeks to bring exceptional potentiality, especially to convert it from merely a trainer aircraft to something more important, more capable and more valid for next generation of challenges. It would be telling how IAF would field it to complement the next generation of assets coming along with it.
Article by Rishav (Twitter @_devildog_rv_)
Photos: Simon Watson, Angad Singh