The first of 22 BAE Systems Hawk Mk 165 Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) aircraft for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) is performing flight trials at the company's production facility in the United Kingdom ahead of delivery.
Aircraft ZB101 is performing a series of flight trials at Warton before being delivered to the kingdom in 2016.
The RSAF already operates 24 Hawk Mk 65 aircraft that it began receiving in 1987 and 16 Hawk Mk 65A aircraft from 1997. In 2012 it signed a GBP1.6 billion (USD2.5 billion at the time) contract for 22 of the latest-generation Hawks, plus 55 Pilatus PC-21s and 25 Cirrus SR22 primary training aircraft, as well as simulators, upgraded training facilities, spares, and support. Deliveries of the Cirrus SR22 were completed in the second half of 2013, while the Pilatus PC-21s began to enter the inventory in mid-2014.
The Hawks are being acquired as their 'glass' cokcpits more closely resemble those of the Eurofighter Typhoon and Boeing F-15SA Eagles onto which the student pilots will transition. Once in service, these latest Hawk Mk 165 AJTs will replace the Mk 65 and Mk 65A platforms that preceded them.
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