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Final delivery of BAE SYSTEMS lead-in fighter HAWK to RAAF

08 Aug 2001

The final Australian-assembled BAE Systems Lead-in Fighter Hawk was today handed over to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) at the BAE Systems Lead-in Fighter Support Facility, Williamtown, NSW.

The handover ceremony, which was attended by Mr John Weston, chief executive, BAE Systems plc, and Air Marshal Angus Houston, Chief of Air Force, marks the end of final assembly activities in Australia. The Williamtown facility will now focus entirely on the in-service support of the Lead-in Fighter.

"The final delivery of the Australian-assembled Lead-in Fighter is testament to the commitment and talent of the Defence Materiel Organisation and BAE Systems project teams. By refining their final assembly skills, the HUNTER Aerospace team were able to reduce the final assembly timescale from the originally planned 26 weeks to an 18 week cycle," said Mr John Weston.

"The project has involved a great deal of shared learning between the Defence Materiel Organisation, BAE Systems Australia and BAE Systems in the United Kingdom. I am pleased to have been in Australia to witness such a significant milestone."

The final Australian-assembled Lead-in Fighter Hawk, DT-28 will now join 76 Squadron in Williamtown.

In total 33 aircraft will be delivered to the RAAF as part of the A$850 million contract, 21 of which have undergone final assembly at the BAE Systems Lead-in Fighter Support Facility in Williamtown, NSW. 19 Lead-in Fighters will be based with 76 Squadron at RAAF Williamtown, NSW and 14 will be based with 79 Squadron at RAAF Pearce, Western Australia.

Air Marshal Angus Houston, said the Lead-in Fighter Hawk will be used to train RAAF pilots for the demands of front-line service well into the new millennium.

"As part of the requirement to be a well trained and well equipped force, we have been training aircrew on the Hawk for almost six months and we are very pleased with the results.

"The Hawk gives Air Force as state-of-the-art fast jet training capability that is key to our fighter and strike training requirement," Air Marshal Houston said.

The Lead-in Fighter contract was signed in 1997 and design, development, manufacture and creation of the support infrastructure were established in just three years. The $15 million Lead-in Fighter Support Facility was opened in April 1999, final assembly commenced in October 1999, and the Hawk Lead-in Fighter entered service with the RAAF in October 2000.