One of the most successful jet trainers of recent times (although 2004 saw the 30th anniversary since the first flight), and the mount of the internationally renowned aerobatic team of the Royal Air Force, the Red Arrows, the BAe Systems (nee Hawker Siddeley) Hawk has also been exported to a number of foreign countries, including the US Navy! No mean feat, considering that a number of competing countries with an aircraft industry had a jet trainer to sell, not to mention the dominance of the US aerospace industry.

It was indeed fortunate for the Maltese enthusiast that several Hawks, destined for a number of African and Middle Eastern countries, passed through Luqa Airport on their delivery flight.

Hawk Demonstrators

Before them, however, a number of British Hawks had arrived, either for trials, or on their way to a demonstration tour. These are listed in the table below.

ARRIVED	DEPARTED	SERIAL No.	MARK	OPERATER	NOTES
26.02.75	18.07.75	XX156	T. Mk.1	Royal AF	Arrived for hot-weather trials. Accompanied by HS.125, G-BAZB, and an A&AEE Britannia XX367. First Hawk to be seen n Malta.
19.01.78	20.01.78	G-HAWK/ZA101	Mk.50	BAe	Arrived its way to a Middle Eastern tour in the. Accompanied by HS.748, G-BDVH. It returned on 16 February.
05.08.81	06.08.81	G-HAWK/ZA101	Mk.50	BAe	Stop-over on another Middle Eastern tour, returning on 19.08.81.
31.03.83	01.04.83	ZA101	Mk.50	BAe	Stop-over on another Middle Eastern tour, returning on 18.04.83. Grey fuselage with a red fin, it had ‘HAWK’ after the fuselage roundel and was accompanied by BAC 1-11, G-AVOF.
31.09.88	01.10.88	ZA101	Mk.100	BAe	All white fuselage, converted to a Mk.100, with an elongated nose, housing FLIR equipment. Accompanied Hawk 200, ZH200 (below). Both aircraft were on their way to Australia for a demonstration to the RAAF.
31.09.88	01.10.88	ZH200	Mk.200	BAe	Single seat version, accompanied ZA101. Both aircraft were on their way to Australia for a demonstration to the RAAF.

Export Aircraft

The following are all the BAe Hawks known to have transited through Malta on their delivery flight.

Kenyan Air Force

The first export versions of the Hawk to stage via Malta were the T. Mk.52s of the Kenyan Air Force, but only six aircraft, from a total order of twelve, passed through Malta. The Kenyan Hawk differed from other export models in having a braking parachute installed in the tail.

Kenyan AF serial numbers consist of four digits, with figures from 1000 upwards allocated to jet trainers.

SERIAL No.	DELIVERY DATE	NOTES
1001	Apr 78	c/n 312178 pi G-9-454. Lost on 11.03.88.
1002	Apr 78	c/n 312179, pi G-9-455
1003	Apr 78	c/n 312180 pi G-9-456. Lost on 26.02.82.
1004	28 May 80	c/n 312181 pi G-9-457
1005	28 May 80	c/n 312182 pi G-9-458
1006	29 Jul 80	c/n 312183 pi G-9-459
1007	29 Jul 80	c/n 312184, pi G-9-460
1008	28 Aug 80	c/n 312185 pi G-9-461
1009	28 Aug 80	c/n 312186 pi G-9-462. Lost on 11.11.88.
1010	06 Feb 81	c/n 312187 pi G-9-463
1011	06 Feb 81	c/n 312188, pi G-9-464
1012	06 Feb 81	c/n 312189, pi G-9-465

Indonesian Air Force

TNI-AU (Tantara Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Udara -- Indonesian National Armed Forces) aircraft serials have a code prefix indicating the aircraft's basic role. Advanced trainers are prefixed with the code LL-. No.11 Squadron is equipped with the Hawks together with Lockheed T-33s, all based at Jakarta. They also differ from other Hawk export versions by having a smoke trailing devices installed for use during displays.

LL-53O1 was handed over to the Indonesian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, at Dunsfold, on July 10, 1980, and went into service with No. I Training wing, 11 Squadron of the TNI-AU, in September 1980. Their delivery flights to Indonesia were staged through Malta, Egypt, Dubai, Dabolim/Goa, Colombo, Medan and finally Jakarta, arriving there after 6 days.

To date, four Hawks are known to have been destroyed, including LL-53O7 and LL-53O8, which collided in mid-air over Indonesia, on June 17, 1981.

LL-5301 was flown for some time with an RAF serial, ZB618, while LL-5318, LL-5319 and LL-5320 were finished in the training livery of white/red/light grey scheme, as used by RAF trainers at the time. The previous seventeen were in desert camouflage. No.103 Squadron now operates all the Indonesian Hawks.

SERIAL No.	DELIVERY DATE	NOTES
LL-5301	01 Sep 80	c/n 312190 G-9-466
LL-5302	01 Sep 80	c/n 312191, G-9-467, crashed 17.09.81
LL-5303	17 Sep 80	c/n 312192. Lost on 10.08.83.
LL-5304	17 Sep 80	c/n 312193. Lost on 22.10.81.
LL-5305	19 Nov 80	c/n 312194
LL-5306	19 Nov 80	c/n 312195
LL-5307	06 Jan 81	c/n 312196. Lost on 17.06.81.
LL-5308	06 Jan 81	c/n 312197. Lost on 17.06.81.
LL-5309	10 Aug 82	c/n 312256 G-9-494. Camouflaged.
LL-5310	10 Aug 82	c/n 312257. Camouflaged, lost on 28.03.82.
LL-5311	19 Oct 82	Lost on 28.03.82.
LL-5312	19 Oct 82
LL-5313	15 Mar 83	G-9-498. Cat 4 damage in 2001.
LL-5314	15 Mar 83	G-9-499
LL-5315	14 Jun 83	G-9-500
LL-5316	14 Jun 83	G-9-501
LL-5317	14 Jun 83
LL-5318	08 Feb 84	c/n 312277. Lost on 28.03.82.
LL-5319	06 Mar 84	c/n 312278
LL-5320	06 Mar 84	c/n 312279

Zimbabwe Air Force

Zimbabwe ordered eight Hawks, to be operated by No. 2 squadron, to replace the Vampire FB.5's and T.11's which had reached the end of their flying hours. The first four were damaged in a sabotage attack a few days after their arrival at Thornhill. 602 was written off, 601 was kept in Zimbabwe for repairs, whilst 600 and 603 were shipped back to British Aerospace for repairs to airworthy status. These two Hawks are therefore in the unique position of having staged through Malta twice on a delivery flight.

Five additional Hawks, serial numbers 608-612, were delivered to Zimbabwe between June – September 1992, but these were not seen in Malta.

SERIAL No.	DELIVERY DATE	NOTES
600	13 Jul 82	c/n 312248, G-9-486. Second delivery flight on 17 Oct 84.
601	13 Jul 82	c/n 312249, G-9-487
602	13 Jul 82	c/n 312250 G-9-489. Destroyed in guerrilla attack on 25.07.82.
603	13 Jul 82	c/n 312251 G-9-489. Second delivery flight on 17 Oct 84.
604	05 Oct 82	c/n 312252 G-9-490
605	05 Oct 82	c/n 312253 G-9-491
606	05 Oct 82	c/n 312254 G-9-492
607	05 Oct 82	c/n 312255 G-9-493

Dubai Air Force

Designated T. Mk.63. Dubai Air Force Hawks operate from the Batin Air Base, the former Abu Dhabi airport, where students undergo training on Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainers.

SERIAL No.	DELIVERY DATE	NOTES
501	29 Mar 83	G-9-502
502	29 Mar 83	G-9-503
503	29 Mar 83	G-9-504, Crashed 04.09.90.
504	07 Jun 83	G-9-505. Crashed 04.04.86
505	07 Jun 83	G-9-506. Crashed 04.04.86
506	06 Sep 83	G-9-507. Crashed 18.12.91
507	06 Sep 83	G-9-508. Crashed 25.04.94
508	06 Sep 83	G-9-509

Abu Dhabi Air Force

Following hot on the heels of the Dubai order was one for sixteen aircraft for the Abu Dhabi wing of the United Arab Emirates Air Force. Also designated T.Mk.63, they are powered by the 2585 kgp Adour 861 in place of the 22 kgp Adour 851 of earlier export aircraft.

A more obvious difference lay in the serial numbers, or rather, in their absence, as these particular aircraft only carried Arabic numerals. It has been assumed, however, that all aircraft were delivered in numerical order.

SERIAL No.	DELIVERY DATE	NOTES
1001	05 Oct 84	Hawks 1001 – 1004 were accompanied by Indian Navy Sea Harrier FRS.1, IN601.
1002	05 Oct 84
1003	05 Oct 84	Crashed 15.04.89
1004	05 Oct 84
1005	08 Dec 84
1006	08 Dec 84
1007	08 Dec 84
1008	08 Dec 84
1009	04 Jan 85	Departed on 06 Jan due to flight planning problems.
1010	04 Jan 85
1011	29 Mar 85
1012	29 Mar 85
1013	29 Mar 85
1014	24 May 85
1015	24 May 85
1016	24 May 85	Crashed 24.02.87

No further Hawk deliveries were made after the Abu Dhabi order was fulfilled. Kuwait AF Hawks started being delivered around August, but were not seen at Luqa, probably due to a change in the assembly line from Dunsfold to Northern England. Hawks started landing in Italy, thereby bypassing Luqa completely. Hawks are still being seen, however, as participants in the Malta International Airshow.