[quote][b][url=/v3/forum/europe-14/topic/royal-air-force-royaume-uni-343/?post=34901#post-34901]ex-trident[/url] a dit le 27/11/2008 à 06:57 :[/b]

[quote]
U.K. Hawk Delivery Slips

LONDON - Delivery of the first Hawk advanced jet trainers destined for Britain's Royal Air Force have been delayed until 2009, planemaker BAE Systems confirmed.

The British company should have delivered the first Hawk 128 to the RAF training base at Valley in October. The contract schedule required BAE to deliver 10 aircraft by the end of the year.

A company spokesman said the delivery program had slipped a number of weeks behind schedule as a result of delays caused by "supply chain and resource issues."

He said the delay will not "unduly impact on our customer's training program."

BAE said in a statement, "Six Hawk 128s have now been delivered to Warton from Brough for flight test and paint, and we aim to have seven aircraft to offer for customer for acceptance by year-end." Deliveries of these and subsequent aircraft to RAF Valley will commence in early 2009.

The RAF has been a long-time user of the Hawk. This latest version has been updated with a digital cockpit, new avionics systems and other improvements to make the aircraft compatible with new-generation fighters now coming into operation with the RAF such as the Eurofighter Typhoon.

The aircraft are built at BAE's Brough site and readied for customer acceptance at the company's prime air systems factory at Warton.

"An initial support package is already on contract and a large quantity of initial provisioning warehouse at RAF Valley. Technicians from our main sub-contractor at Valley, Babcock Defence Services, have started their training, and RAF pilots will start their Mk128 conversion training in the neat future," the statement said.

BAE secured the MoD contract in 2004 to develop the new Hawk in controversial circumstances. Geoff Hoon, the defense minister of the day, ignored the advice of officials and ordered the Hawk 128 without a competition.

The company was warning at the time it would have to run down the Brough Hawk operation without an RAF order. That would have put at risk a deal with India and other potential sales.

Hoon was vindicated when BAE later secured the Indian deal. The British eventually ordered 28 aircraft in 2006 in a deal worth 450 million pounds ($688 million).

The Hawks will provide the advanced training element of the Military Flying Training System program now coming together in a partnership arrangement between the MoD and Ascent, the Lockheed Martin-VT Group venture.
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http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3838881&c=EUR&s=TOP[/quote]