Hawker: Sea Hawk

July 1949. (Flight 1949/07/28)

January 1952. Sea Hawk.

1955.

September 1956 / February 1957.

1958.

Please note: This is a sub-section of Hawker.

The Hawker Sea Hawk was a British single-seat jet fighter of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the air branch of the Royal Navy (RN), built by Hawker Aircraft and its sister company, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Although its origins stemmed from earlier Hawker piston-engined fighters, the Sea Hawk became the company's first jet aircraft.

Following the type's acceptance in the RN, the Sea Hawk proved to be a reliable and sturdy workhorse. A considerable number were also produced for the export market, and were operated from aircraft carriers in both Dutch and Indian service. The last operational Sea Hawks, operated by the Indian Navy, were retired in 1983.

Variants

P.1040

• VP401 prototype first flown at Boscombe Down on 2 September 1947, later converted to a P.1072
• VP413 navalised prototype to specification N.7/46 first flown at Farnborough 3 September 1948.
• VP422 second-naval prototype first flown at Farnborough 17 October 1949.

Sea Hawk F1

• Production fighters powered by a Rolls-Royce Nene Mk 101 engine; 95 built (35 by Hawker Aircraft at Kingston-upon-Thames, the remainder and all subsequent production by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft at Baginton, Coventry).

Sea Hawk F2

• Production fighter with powered ailerons; 40 built by Armstrong Whitworth.

Sea Hawk FB 3

• Fighter-bomber variant with stronger wing for external stores; 116 built.

Sea Hawk FGA 4

• Fighter/Ground attack variant; 97 built.

Sea Hawk FB 5

• FB3 fitted with the Nene Mk 103; 50 conversions.

Sea Hawk FGA 6

• FGA4 with the Nene Mk 103; total of 101 (86 new-build, the remainder converted from FB3 and FGA 4 examples).

Sea Hawk Mk 50

• Export variant based on the FGA 6 for the Royal Netherland Navy; 22 built.

Sea Hawk Mk 100

• Export variant for the West German Navy, similar to FGA 6 but fitted with taller fin and rudder; 32 built.

Sea Hawk Mk 101

• All-weather export variant for the West German Navy, as Mk 100 but fitted with a search radar in an underwing pod; 32 built.

See Also

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Sources of Information

• Wikipedia