The Hawker Hunter is a
transonic
Transonic (or transsonic) flow is air flowing around an object at a speed that generates regions of both subsonic and supersonic airflow around that object. The exact range of speeds depends on the object's critical Mach number, but transonic ...
British
jet-powered
Jet propulsion is the propulsion of an object in one direction, produced by ejecting a jet of fluid in the opposite direction. By Newton's third law, the moving body is propelled in the opposite direction to the jet. Reaction engines operating o ...
fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
that was developed by
Hawker Aircraft
Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that was responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history.
History
Hawker had its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, which resulted in the bank ...
for the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
(RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed
Rolls-Royce Avon
The Rolls-Royce Avon was the first axial flow jet engine designed and produced by Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1950, the engine went on to become one of their most successful post-World War II engine designs. It was used in a wide variety of ai ...
turbojet
The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...
engine and the
swept wing
A swept wing is a wing that angles either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than in a straight sideways direction.
Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigate ...
, and was the first jet-powered aircraft produced by Hawker to be procured by the RAF. On 7 September 1953, the modified first prototype broke the
world air speed record for aircraft, achieving a speed of .
The single-seat Hunter was introduced to service in 1954 as a manoeuvrable day
interceptor aircraft
An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are cap ...
, quickly succeeding
first-generation jet fighter
Jet fighter generations classify the major technology leaps in the historical development of the jet fighter. Different authorities have identified different technology jumps as the key ones, dividing fighter development into different numbers of ...
s in RAF service such as the
Gloster Meteor
The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...
and the
de Havilland Venom
The de Havilland DH 112 Venom is a British post-war single-engined jet aircraft developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Much of its design was derived from the de Havilland Vampire, the firm's first jet-powered combat ...
. The all-weather/night fighter role was filled by the
Gloster Javelin
The Gloster Javelin is a twin-engined T-tailed delta-wing subsonic night and all-weather interceptor aircraft that served with Britain's Royal Air Force from the mid-1950s until the late 1960s. The last aircraft design to bear the Gloster name ...
. Successively improved variants of the type were produced, adopting increasingly more capable engine models and expanding its fuel capacity amongst other modifications being implemented. Hunters were also used by two RAF display teams: the "
Black Arrows
The Black Arrows,one of the predecessors to the current Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team the Red Arrows, were an aerobatic demonstration team formed in 1956 by Squadron Leader Roger L.Topp, then Commanding Officer 111 Squadron ("treble-one"). ...
", who on one occasion looped a record-breaking 22 Hunters in formation, and later the "
Blue Diamonds
Blue diamond is a type of diamond which exhibits all of the same inherent properties of the mineral except with the additional element of blue color in the stone. They are colored blue by trace amounts of boron that contaminate the crystalline la ...
", who flew 16 aircraft. The Hunter was also widely exported, serving with a total of 21 overseas air forces.
During the 1960s, following the introduction of the
supersonic
Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...
English Electric Lightning
The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It was capable of a top speed of above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufa ...
in the interceptor role, the Hunter transitioned to being operated as a
fighter-bomber
A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, wh ...
and for
aerial reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of ima ...
missions, using dedicated variants for these purposes. Two-seat variants remained in use for training and secondary roles with the RAF and the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
until the early 1990s. Sixty years after its original introduction it was still in active service, being operated by the
Lebanese Air Force
The Lebanese Air Force (LAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية اللبنانية, Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Lubnaniyya) is the aerial warfare branch of the Lebanese Armed Forces. The seal of the air force is a Roundel with two wings and a Lebanese C ...
until 2014.
The Hunter saw combat service in a range of conflicts with several operators, including the
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
, the
Aden Emergency
The Aden Emergency, also known as the Radfan Uprising (), was an armed rebellion by NLF and FLOSY during the Cold War against the Federation of South Arabia, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, which now forms part of Yemen.
Partly inspire ...
, the
Sino-Indian War
The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tib ...
, the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...
, the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the
Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...
, the
Rhodesian Bush War
The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia).
The conflict pitted three for ...
, the
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War,, group=lower-alpha also known as the Great War of Africa or the Great African War and sometimes referred to as the African World War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year a ...
, the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
, the
War of Attrition
The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...
and the
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...
. Overall, 1,972 Hunters were manufactured by Hawker Aircraft and its successor,
Hawker Siddeley
Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of onl ...
, as well as being
produced under licence overseas. In British service, the Hunter was replaced in its principal roles by the Lightning, the
Hawker Siddeley Harrier
The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is a British military aircraft. It was the first of the Harrier series of aircraft and was developed in the 1960s as the first operational ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and ...
and the
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...
.
Development
Origins
![farnborough](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Farnborough.hunters.arp.jpg)
During 1945, the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
came to a close and a new postwar
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
government, headed by
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...
, came to power in Britain.
[Wood 1975, p. 40.] The incoming Attlee government's initial stance on defence was that no major conflict would occur for at least a decade, and thus there would be no need to develop or to procure any new aircraft until 1957. In accordance with this policy, aside from a small number of exceptions such as what would become the
Hawker Sea Hawk
The Hawker Sea Hawk is a British single-seat jet day fighter formerly 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 design origina ...
for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
, the majority of
Specifications
A specification often refers to a set of documented requirements to be satisfied by a material, design, product, or service. A specification is often a type of technical standard.
There are different types of technical or engineering specificati ...
issued by the
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
for fighter-sized aircraft during the late 1940s were restricted to research purposes.
[Wood 1975, pp. 40–43.] Aviation author Derek Wood refers to this policy as being: "a fatal error of judgement which was to cost Britain a complete generation of fighters and heavy bomber aircraft".
As the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
arose in the late 1940s, the RAF came to recognise that it would urgently require the development and procurement of fighters equipped with features such as
swept wing
A swept wing is a wing that angles either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than in a straight sideways direction.
Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigate ...
s.
[Wood 1975, pp. 43–45.] By this time, it had also become apparent that newly developed
jet propulsion
Jet propulsion is the propulsion of an object in one direction, produced by ejecting a jet of fluid in the opposite direction. By Newton's third law, the moving body is propelled in the opposite direction to the jet. Reaction engines operating o ...
would form the future of fighter aircraft development. Many companies were quick to devise their own designs to harness this means of propulsion.
Hawker Aviation
Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that was responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history.
History
Hawker had its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, which resulted in the bank ...
's chief designer,
Sydney Camm
Sir Sydney Camm, CBE, FRAeS (5 August 189312 March 1966) was an English aeronautical engineer who contributed to many Hawker aircraft designs, from the biplanes of the 1920s to jet fighters. One particularly notable aircraft he designed was th ...
, had proposed the Hawker P.1040 for the RAF, but the demonstrator failed to interest them.
[Mason 1991, pp. 355–356.] Further modifications to the basic design resulted in the
Hawker Sea Hawk
The Hawker Sea Hawk is a British single-seat jet day fighter formerly 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 design origina ...
carrier-based fighter. However, the Sea Hawk possessed a straight wing and was powered by the
Rolls-Royce Nene
The Rolls-Royce RB.41 Nene is a 1940s British centrifugal compressor turbojet engine. The Nene was a complete redesign, rather than a scaled-up Rolls-Royce Derwent"Rolls-Royce Aero Engines" Bill Gunston, Patrick Stephens Limited 1989, , p.111 w ...
turbojet
The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...
engine, both features that rapidly became obsolete.
[Griffin 2006, p. 15.]
Seeking better performance and fulfilment of the
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
Specification E.38/46, Sydney Camm designed the
Hawker P.1052
The Hawker P.1052 was a British experimental aircraft built by Hawker Aircraft, Hawker Aircraft Limited for trials with swept wings.
Design and development
The origins of the P.1052 were in a 1945 design study by the Hawker design team for a ...
, which was essentially a Sea Hawk outfitted with a 35-degree swept wing. Performing its first flight in 1948, the P.1052 demonstrated good performance and conducted several carrier trials, but was ultimately determined to not warrant further development into a production aircraft.
[Mason 1991, pp. 368–370.] As a private venture, Hawker proceeded to convert the second P.1052 prototype into the
Hawker P.1081
The Hawker P.1081, also known as the "Australian Fighter" was a prototype United Kingdom, British jet aircraft from the mid-twentieth century. The single example built was destroyed in a crash in 1951.
Design and development
In 1949, the Roya ...
with swept tailplanes, a revised fuselage, and a single jet exhaust at the rear. On 19 June 1950, the P.1081 conducted its maiden flight, and was promising enough to draw interest from the
Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
(RAAF); however, further development was stalled by difficulties with the engine's
reheat
An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and combat ...
. In 1951, the sole P.1081 prototype was lost in a crash.
[Mason 1991, p. 373.]
P.1067
![Hawker Hunter F](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Hawker_Hunter_F.3_WB188_GC_31.07.76_edited-2.jpg)
In 1946, the British
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
issued
Specification F.43/46, which sought a daytime jet-powered
interceptor aircraft
An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are cap ...
. Camm promptly prepared a new design for a swept-winged fighter that would be powered by the upcoming
Rolls-Royce Avon
The Rolls-Royce Avon was the first axial flow jet engine designed and produced by Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1950, the engine went on to become one of their most successful post-World War II engine designs. It was used in a wide variety of ai ...
turbojet
The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...
. The Avon's major advantage over the earlier Nene engine, as used in the earlier Sea Hawk, was adoption of the
axial compressor
An axial compressor is a gas compressor that can continuously pressurize gases. It is a rotating, airfoil-based compressor in which the gas or working fluid principally flows parallel to the axis of rotation, or axially. This differs from other ...
, which allowed for a much smaller engine diameter and provided greater thrust; this single engine gave roughly the same power as the two
Rolls-Royce Derwent
The Rolls-Royce RB.37 Derwent is a 1940s British centrifugal compressor turbojet engine, the second Rolls-Royce jet engine to enter production. It was an improved version of the Rolls-Royce Welland, which itself was a renamed version of Frank ...
s of the
Gloster Meteor
The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...
s, a fighter aircraft that would be replaced by the envisioned new aircraft. In March 1948, the Air Ministry issued a revised Specification F.3/48, which demanded a speed of 629 mph (1,010 km/h) at 45,000 ft (13,700 m) and a high rate of climb,
[Jackson 1982, p. 8.] while carrying an armament of four or two 30 mm (1.18 in) cannon (rather than the large-calibre gun demanded by earlier specifications).
[Mason 1992, p. 368.] Initially fitted with a single air intake in the nose and a
T-tail
A T-tail is an empennage configuration in which the tailplane is mounted to the top of the fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs from the standard configuration in which the tailplane is ...
, the project rapidly evolved into the more familiar Hunter shape. The intakes were moved to the wing roots to make room for weapons and radar in the nose, and a more conventional tail arrangement was devised as a result of stability concerns.
[Jackson 1982, p. 10.]
In 1950, the outbreak of the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
and Britain's heavy involvement in this conflict led to a flurry of orders being issued; the need for capable modern interceptors was felt to be so pressing that the RAF was willing to consider accepting interim fighter aircraft while more capable fighters would continue to be pursued. In particular, the RAF felt that a pair of proposed fighter aircraft from
Hawker Aircraft
Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that was responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history.
History
Hawker had its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, which resulted in the bank ...
and
Supermarine
Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that is most famous for producing the Supermarine Spitfire, Spitfire fighter plane during World War II as well as a range of seaplanes and flying boats, and a series of Jet engine, jet-powered figh ...
were of high importance and thus placed orders for these proposed fighters 'off the drawing board' in 1950.
[Wood 1975, pp. 43–46.] The reasoning behind these two aircraft being ordered in 1950 was intended to serve as an insurance policy in the event of either one of these projects failing to produce a viable aircraft; these two aircraft would later become known as the
Supermarine Swift
The Supermarine Swift is a British single-seat jet fighter aircraft that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was developed and manufactured by Supermarine during the 1940s and 1950s. The Swift featured many of the new jet age innova ...
and the Hawker Hunter respectively.
[Wood 1975, pp. 45–46.]
![Hawker Hunter - Elvington - BB](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Hawker_Hunter_-_Elvington_-_BB.jpg)
On 20 July 1951, the P.1067 made its
maiden flight
The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets.
The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...
, flown by
Neville Duke
Neville Frederick Duke, (11 January 1922 – 7 April 2007) was a British test pilot and fighter ace of the Second World War. He was credited with the destruction of 27 enemy aircraft. After the war, Duke was acknowledged as one of the world's fo ...
, from
RAF Boscombe Down
MoD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the southeastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the Def ...
, powered by a single 6,500
lbf
The pound of force or pound-force (symbol: lbf, sometimes lbf,) is a unit of force used in some systems of measurement, including English Engineering units and the foot–pound–second system.
Pound-force should not be confused with pound-m ...
(28.91
kN) Avon 103 engine.
[Jackson 1982, p. 11.] The second prototype, which was fitted with production-standard avionics, armament and a 7,550 lbf (33.58 kN) Avon 107 turbojet, first flew on 5 May 1952. As an insurance against development problems on the part of the Avon engine, Hawker modified the design to accommodate another axial turbojet, the 8,000 lbf (35.59 kN)
Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire
The Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire is a British turbojet engine that was produced by Armstrong Siddeley in the 1950s. It was the ultimate development of work that had started as the Metrovick F.2 in 1940, evolving into an advanced axial flow de ...
101. Fitted with a Sapphire, the third prototype flew on 30 November 1952.
[Griffin 2006, pp. 17–18.]
On 16 March 1953, the first production standard ''Hunter F.1'', fitted with a single 7,600 lbf (33.80 kN) Avon 113 turbojet, made its first flight. The first 20 aircraft were, in effect, a pre-production series and featured a number of "one-off" modifications such as
blown flap
Blown flaps, or jet flaps, are powered aerodynamic high-lift devices used on the wings of certain aircraft to improve their low-speed flight characteristics. They use air blown through nozzles to shape the airflow over the rear edge of the wing, d ...
s and
area rule
The Whitcomb area rule, named after NACA engineer Richard Whitcomb and also called the transonic area rule, is a design procedure used to reduce an aircraft's drag at transonic speeds which occur between about Mach 0.75 and 1.2. For supersonic ...
d fuselage. On 7 September 1953, the sole Hunter Mk 3 (the modified first prototype, ''WB 188'') flown by
Neville Duke
Neville Frederick Duke, (11 January 1922 – 7 April 2007) was a British test pilot and fighter ace of the Second World War. He was credited with the destruction of 27 enemy aircraft. After the war, Duke was acknowledged as one of the world's fo ...
broke the world
air speed record
An air speed record is the highest airspeed attained by an aircraft of a particular class. The rules for all official aviation records are defined by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which also ratifies any claims. Speed records ...
for jet-powered aircraft, attaining a speed of 727.63 mph (1,171.01 km/h) over
Littlehampton
Littlehampton is a town, seaside resort, and pleasure harbour, and the most populous civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the English Channel on the eastern bank of the mouth of the River Arun. It is south sout ...
,
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...
. This world record stood for less than three weeks before being broken on 25 September 1953 by the Hunter's early rival, the Supermarine Swift, flown by Michael Lithgow.
Design
Overview
![Hawker Hunter Cockpit (2096004461)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Hawker_Hunter_Cockpit_%282096004461%29.jpg)
The Hunter entered service with the Royal Air Force as an interceptor aircraft. It was the first jet aircraft produced by Hawker for the RAF. From the outset it was clear that the type had exceptional performance, being the first RAF aircraft capable of effectively matching the
English Electric Canberra
The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...
bomber. The Hunter also set numerous aviation records, including absolute speed records.
[Flight 1955, p. 243.] The type was also lauded for its quick turnaround time, enabled by features such as its removable gun pack and pressurised fuelling system, and for its easy handling in flight.
The definitive version of the Hunter was the FGA.9, on which the majority of export versions were based. Although the
Supermarine Swift
The Supermarine Swift is a British single-seat jet fighter aircraft that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was developed and manufactured by Supermarine during the 1940s and 1950s. The Swift featured many of the new jet age innova ...
had initially been politically favoured by the British Government, the Hunter proved far more successful, and had a lengthy service life with various operators, in part due to its low maintenance requirements and operating costs, while the Swift programme was cancelled in 1955.
[Wood 1975, p. 48.]
As the RAF received newer aircraft capable of
supersonic
Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...
speeds to perform the air interceptor role, many Hunters were modified and re-equipped for undertaking ground-attack and reconnaissance missions instead. Hunters deemed surplus to the RAF's requirements were also quickly refurbished for continued service abroad. The Hunter would be procured by a considerable number of foreign nations. In addition to former RAF aircraft, roughly half of the nearly 2,000 Hunters produced had been manufactured specifically for overseas customers. The Hunter would be in operational service with the RAF for over 30 years. As late as 1996, hundreds were still in active service with various operators across the world.
[Laming 1996, p. 51.]
Armament and equipment
![Quad ADEN 30mm Cannon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Quad_ADEN_30mm_Cannon.jpg)
The single-seat fighter versions of the Hunter were armed with four
ADEN cannon
The Royal Small Arms Factory ADEN cannon (ADEN being an acronym for "Armament Development, Enfield") is a 30 mm revolver cannon used on many military aircraft, particularly those of the British Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm. Developed po ...
, with 150 rounds of ammunition per gun. The cannon and ammunition boxes were contained in a single pack that could be removed from the aircraft for rapid re-arming and maintenance. Unusually, the barrels of the cannon remained in the aircraft while the pack was removed and changed.
[Mason 1991, p. 375.] In the two-seat version, either a single 30 mm ADEN cannon was carried or, in some export versions, two, with a removable ammunition tank. Later versions of the Hunter were fitted with
SNEB
The SNEB rocket (french: Societe Nouvelle des Etablissements Edgar Brandt) is an unguided air-to-ground rocket projectile manufactured by the French company ''TDA Armements'', designed for launch by combat aircraft and helicopters. It is also kn ...
Pods; these were rocket projectiles in 18-round Matra pods, providing an effective strike capability against ground targets.
[Griffin 2006, p. 27.]
The Hunter featured a nose-mounted
ranging radar, providing range input to the gyro gunsight for air-to-air gunnery only.
Other equipment included pylon-mounted underwing external fuel tanks, a forward-facing gun camera, and large streamlined pods for collecting expended shell cases beneath the gun pack.
These were nicknamed "Sabrinas", after the
buxom actress of the time. Several variants were fitted with tail-mounted brake parachutes. Typically, export Hunters were equipped to be compatible with additional types of missiles, such as the
AIM-9 Sidewinder
The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prov ...
air-to-air missile
The newest and the oldest member of Rafael's Python family of AAM for comparisons, Python-5 (displayed lower-front) and Shafrir-1 (upper-back)
An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying a ...
and the
AGM-65 Maverick
The AGM-65 Maverick is an air-to-ground missile (AGM) designed for close air support. It is the most widely produced precision-guided missile in the Western world, and is effective against a wide range of tactical targets, including armor, air ...
air-to-surface missile
An air-to-surface missile (ASM) or air-to-ground missile (AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft at targets on land or sea. There are also unpowered guided glide bombs not considered missiles. The two most common prop ...
.
Layout and structure
![IMGL4883Mk58Hunterfest1-20082022](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/IMGL4883Mk58Hunterfest1-20082022.jpg)
The Hunter is a conventional
swept wing
A swept wing is a wing that angles either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than in a straight sideways direction.
Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigate ...
all-metal monoplane. The fuselage is of
monocoque
Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell".
First used for boats, ...
construction, with a removable rear section for engine maintenance. The engine is fed through triangular air intakes in the wing roots and has a single jetpipe in the rear of the fuselage. The mid-mounted wings have a leading edge sweep of 35° and slight
anhedral, the tailplanes and fin are also swept. The Hunter's aerodynamic qualities were increasingly infringed upon by modifications in later production models, such as the addition of external containers to collect spent gun cartridges, underwing fuel tanks to increase range, leading edge extensions to resolve pitch control difficulties, and a large ventral air brake.
The airframe of the Hunter consists of six interchangeable major sections: the forward fuselage (housing the cockpit and armament pack), center fuselage (including the integral wing roots and air duct intakes), rear fuselage, tail unit assembly, and two individually produced wings. Production was divided up so major sections could be completed individually and manufacturing of the type could be dispersed to reduce vulnerability to attack.
[Flight 1955, p. 242.] Establishing initial full-rate production for the type was difficult; manufacturing the Hunter required the development of 3,250 tool designs and the procurement of 40,000 fixtures, jigs, and tools.
Engine
![AvonandHunter](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/AvonandHunter.jpg)
The P.1067 first flew from
RAF Boscombe Down
MoD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the southeastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the Def ...
on 20 July 1951, powered by a 6,500 lbf (28.91 kN)
Rolls-Royce Avon
The Rolls-Royce Avon was the first axial flow jet engine designed and produced by Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1950, the engine went on to become one of their most successful post-World War II engine designs. It was used in a wide variety of ai ...
103 engine from an
English Electric Canberra
The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...
bomber.
The second prototype was fitted with a 7,550 lbf (33.58 kN) Avon 107 turbojet. Hawker's third prototype was powered by an 8,000 lbf (35.59 kN)
Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire
The Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire is a British turbojet engine that was produced by Armstrong Siddeley in the 1950s. It was the ultimate development of work that had started as the Metrovick F.2 in 1940, evolving into an advanced axial flow de ...
101.
Production Hunters were fitted with either the Avon or the Sapphire engine.
Early on in the Hunter's service the Avon engines proved to have poor surge margins, and worryingly suffered
compressor stall A compressor stall is a local disruption of the airflow in the compressor of a gas turbine or turbocharger. A stall that results in the complete disruption of the airflow through the compressor is referred to as a compressor surge. The severity of t ...
s when the cannon were fired, sometimes resulting in
flameout
In aviation, a flameout (or flame-out) is the run-down of a jet engine or other turbine engine due to the extinction of the flame in its combustor. The loss of flame can have a variety of causes, such as fuel starvation, excessive altitude, comp ...
s.
[Law 2002, pp. 211–212.] The practice of "fuel dipping", reducing fuel flow to the engine when the cannon were fired, was a satisfactory solution.
Although the Sapphire did not suffer from the flameout problems of the Avon and had better fuel economy, Sapphire-powered Hunters suffered many engine failures. The RAF elected to persevere with the Avon to simplify supply and maintenance, since the Canberra bomber used the same engine.
[Griffin 2006, pp. 25–26.]
The RAF sought more thrust than was available from the Avon 100 series; in response Rolls-Royce developed the Avon 200 series engine. This was an almost wholly new design, equipped with a new compressor to put an end to surge problems, an annular combustion chamber, and an improved fuel control system. The resulting Avon 203 produced 10,000 lbf (44.48 kN) of thrust, and was the engine for the Hunter F.6.
[Griffin 2006, p. 26.]
Operational history
Royal Air Force
![Hawker Hunter T7 59](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Hawker_Hunter_T7_59.jpg)
The Hunter F.1 entered service with the Royal Air Force in July 1954. It was the first high-speed jet aircraft equipped with radar and fully powered flight controls to go into widespread service with the RAF. The Hunter replaced the
Gloster Meteor
The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...
, the
Canadair Sabre
The Canadair Sabre is a jet fighter aircraft built by Canadair under licence from North American Aviation. A variant of the North American F-86 Sabre, it was produced until 1958 and used primarily by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) until ...
, and the
de Havilland Venom
The de Havilland DH 112 Venom is a British post-war single-engined jet aircraft developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Much of its design was derived from the de Havilland Vampire, the firm's first jet-powered combat ...
jet fighters in service.
[ Initially, low internal fuel capacity restricted the Hunter's performance, giving it only a maximum flight endurance of about an hour.][Griffin 2006, p. 19.] A fatal accident occurred on 8 February 1956, when a flight of eight Hunters was diverted to another airfield owing to adverse weather conditions. Six of the eight aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed, killing one pilot.["Hunter Aircraft (Report of Inquiry)."](_blank)
''Hansard,'' 25 April 1956. Retrieved: 23 August 2009.
Another difficulty encountered during the aircraft's introduction was the occurrence of surging and stalling with the Avon engines. The F.2, which used the Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire
The Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire is a British turbojet engine that was produced by Armstrong Siddeley in the 1950s. It was the ultimate development of work that had started as the Metrovick F.2 in 1940, evolving into an advanced axial flow des ...
engine, did not suffer from this issue. Further problems occurred; ejected cannon ammunition links had a tendency to strike and damage the underside of the fuselage, and diverting the gas emitted by the cannon during firing was another necessary modification. The original split-flap airbrakes caused adverse changes in pitch trim and were quickly replaced by a single ventral airbrake. This meant, however, that the airbrake could not be used for landings.
To address the problem of range, a production Hunter F.1 was fitted with a modified wing featuring bag-type fuel tanks in the leading edge and two (or 4 on later aircraft) "wet" hardpoints for 100-gallon drop tanks. The resulting Hunter F.4 first flew on 20 October 1954, and entered service in March 1955.[Griffin 2006, p. 25.] A distinctive Hunter feature added on the F.4 was the pair of blisters under the cockpit, which collected spent ammunition links to prevent airframe damage. Crews dubbed them " Sabrinas" after the contemporary movie star. The Sapphire-powered version of the F.4 was designated the Hunter F.5.
The RAF later received Hunters equipped with an improved Avon engine. The Avon 203 produced 10,000 lbf (44.48 kN) of thrust and was fitted to ''XF833'', which became the first Hunter F.6. Some other revisions on the F.6 included a revised fuel tank layout, the centre fuselage tanks being replaced by new slightly smaller ones in the rear fuselage; the distinctive "dogtooth" leading edge extension (Mod 533) to alleviate the pitch-up
In aerodynamics, pitch-up is an uncommanded nose-upwards rotation of an aircraft. It is an undesirable characteristic that has been observed mostly in experimental swept-wing aircraft at high subsonic Mach numbers or high angle of attack.
History
...
problem; the "Mod 228" wing, with increased structural strength and four (rather than the previous two) "wet" hardpoints, finally giving the aircraft a good ferry range. The Hunter F.6 was given the company designation ''Hawker P.1099''.
During the Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
of 1956, Hunter F.5s of No. 1 and No. 34 Squadrons based at RAF Akrotiri
RAF Akrotiri ( el, Βασιλική Πολεμική Αεροπορία Ακρωτηρίου) is a large Royal Air Force base on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is located in the Western Sovereign Base Area, one of two areas which compr ...
in Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
flew escort for English Electric Canberra
The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...
bombers on offensive missions into Egypt. For most of the conflict the Hunters engaged in local air defence due to their lack of range.
During the Brunei Revolt in 1962, the Royal Air Force deployed Hunters and Gloster Javelin
The Gloster Javelin is a twin-engined T-tailed delta-wing subsonic night and all-weather interceptor aircraft that served with Britain's Royal Air Force from the mid-1950s until the late 1960s. The last aircraft design to bear the Gloster name ...
s over Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
to provide support for British ground forces; Hunters launched both dummy and real strafing runs on ground targets to intimidate and pin down rebels.[Fowler and Lyles 2006, p. 5.] In one event, several Bruneian and expatriate
An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
hostages were due to be executed by rebels. Hunter aircraft flew over Limbang
Limbang is a border town and the capital of Limbang District in the Limbang Division of northern Sarawak, East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. This district area is 3,978.10 square kilometres, and population (year 2020 census) was 56,900. I ...
while Royal Marines from 42 Commando rescued the hostages in a fierce battle. In the following years of the Borneo Confrontation
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and east ...
, Hunters were deployed along with other RAF aircraft in Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
and Malaya
Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia:
Political entities
* British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
.
The Hunter F.6 was retired from its day fighter role in the RAF by 1963, being replaced by the much faster English Electric Lightning
The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It was capable of a top speed of above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufa ...
interceptor. Many F.6s were then given a new lease of life in the close air support
In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and moveme ...
role, converting into the Hunter FGA.9 variant. The FGA.9 saw frontline use from 1960 to 1971, alongside the closely related Hunter FR.10 tactical reconnaissance variant. The Hunters were also used by two RAF display units; the "Black Arrows
The Black Arrows,one of the predecessors to the current Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team the Red Arrows, were an aerobatic demonstration team formed in 1956 by Squadron Leader Roger L.Topp, then Commanding Officer 111 Squadron ("treble-one"). ...
" of No. 111 Squadron who set a record by looping and barrel roll
A barrel roll is an aerial maneuver in which an airplane makes a complete rotation on both its longitudinal and lateral axes, causing it to follow a helical path, approximately maintaining its original direction. It is sometimes described as a ...
ing 22 Hunters in formation, and later the "Blue Diamonds
Blue diamond is a type of diamond which exhibits all of the same inherent properties of the mineral except with the additional element of blue color in the stone. They are colored blue by trace amounts of boron that contaminate the crystalline la ...
" of No. 92 Squadron who flew 16 Hunters.
In Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
in May 1964, Hunter FGA.9s and FR.10s of No. 43 Squadron RAF
("Glory is the end")
, colors=
, colors_label=
, march=
, mascot=
, battles=
, anniversaries=
, decorations=
, battle_honours=
*Western Front (1917–1918)
*Arras (1917)
* Ypres (1917)*
* Cambrai (1917)
*Somme (1918)*
*Lys
*Amiens (1918)
*Dunk ...
and No. 8 Squadron RAF
Number 8 Squadron (sometimes written as No. VIII Squadron) of the Royal Air Force last operated the E-3 Sentry, Boeing E-3D Sentry AEW1 (Airborne Early Warning and Control, AWACS) from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. As of 2020, the RAF AWACS fl ...
were used extensively during the Radfan campaign
The Aden Emergency, also known as the Radfan Uprising (), was an armed rebellion by NLF and FLOSY during the Cold War against the Federation of South Arabia, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, which now forms part of Yemen.
Partly inspire ...
against insurgents attempting to overthrow the Federation of South Arabia
The Federation of South Arabia ( ar, اتحاد الجنوب العربي ') was a federal state under British protection in what would become South Yemen. Its capital was Aden.
It was formed on 4 April 1962 from the 15 protected states of ...
. SAS forces would routinely call in air strikes that required considerable precision, and, predominantly using 3-inch high explosive rockets and 30 mm ADEN cannon, the Hunter proved an able ground-attack platform. Both squadrons continued operations with their Hunters until the UK withdrew from Aden in November 1967.
Hunters were flown by No.63, No. 234 and No. 79 Squadrons acting in training roles for foreign and Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
students. These remained in service until after the Hawk T.1 entered service in the mid-1970s. Two-seat trainer versions of the Hunter, the T.7 and T.8, remained in use for training and secondary roles by the RAF and Royal Navy until the early 1990s; when the Blackburn Buccaneer
The Blackburn Buccaneer is a British carrier-capable attack aircraft designed in the 1950s for the Royal Navy (RN). Designed and initially produced by Blackburn Aircraft at Brough, it was later officially known as the Hawker Siddeley Buccanee ...
retired from service. The requirement for Hunter trainers disappeared so the Buccaneer-oriented trainers were retired, leaving the RN T.8Ms to soldier on for a while longer.
Hunters were also used by the Empire Test Pilots' School
The Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS) is a British training school for test pilots and flight test engineers of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft at MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire, England. It was established in 1943, the first of its type. T ...
at MoD Boscombe Down
MoD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the southeastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the Def ...
. The Hunter is unusual among swept wing jet aircraft in being able to be safely spun inverted. This would be demonstrated to students of the school.
Royal Danish Air Force
As early as 1953 the first Hunter flew over Denmark, when test pilot Neville Duke demonstrated the F.1 over Copenhagen Airport. During this demonstration, the pilot broke the sound barrier in a shallow dive.
Air Force officials were very impressed with the demonstration and since the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) were looking for a replacement for the Gloster Meteors in service at the time, the Hunter was a natural choice. Consequently, a contract for delivery of 30 F. Mk. 51 was signed on 3 July 1954. RDAF took delivery of the first two of these on 31 January 1956 and nine months later, all 30 Hunters had been delivered to 724 Squadron.
Since the Hunter was a significantly different aircraft to fly, compared to older types such as the Meteor, the need for a two-seat trainer soon arose, and the RDAF took delivery of two T.Mk. 53 two-seat trainers in 1958.
In contrast to most other users of the Hunter, RDAF never converted the Hunter to the fighter-bomber role. Although some studies and experiments carried out in 1959, the project never materialised and the Hunter carried on as a day fighter until its retirement in 1974.
The last flight of the Hunter in RDAF service was carried out on 30 April 1974. The entire fleet was initially preserved at Aalborg Air Base, in the hopes of a future sale to other users. No such sale was ever carried out, but 16 F.Mk. 51s and four T-Mk.53 (two additional T.Mk. 53 had been purchased from the Netherlands in 1967) were sent back to Hawker Siddeley in December 1975. Ultimately, most Hunters were sold either to private buyers or to military museums around the world. Only one example (47-401/E-401) was reserved for museum use in Denmark and currently resides in “Danmarks Flymuseum
The Danmarks Flymuseum is a museum located at Stauning Vestjylland Airport, Stauning Airport in Stauning (village), Stauning, Denmark.
It has a collection of around 70 aircraft from the period 1911 until 2000. Around 60 aircraft are on display. ...
” in Stauning.
Indian Air Force
In 1954, India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
arranged to purchase Hunters as a part of a wider arms deal with Britain, ordering 140 Hunter single-seat fighters at the same time that Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
announced its purchase of several North American F-86 Sabre
The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing So ...
jet fighters. The Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...
(IAF) was the first to operate the Hunter T.66 trainers, placing an initial order in 1957. The more powerful engine was considered beneficial in a hot environment, allowing for greater takeoff weights. During the 1960s, Pakistan investigated the possibility of buying as many as 40 English Electric Lightning
The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It was capable of a top speed of above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufa ...
s, but Britain was unenthusiastic about the potential sales opportunity because of the damage it would do to its relations with India, which at the time was still awaiting the delivery of large numbers of ex-RAF Hunters.
By the outbreak of the Sino-Indian War
The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tib ...
in 1962, India had assembled one of the largest air forces in Asia, and the Hunter was the nation's primary and most capable interceptor. During the conflict, the Hunter demonstrated its superiority over China's Russian-sourced MiGs and gave India a strategic advantage in the air.[Sieff 2009, p. 83.] India's aerial superiority deterred Chinese Ilyushin Il-4
The Ilyushin Il-4 (DB-3F) (russian: Ильюшин Ил-4 (ДБ-3Ф)) was a Soviet twin-engined long-range bomber and torpedo bomber, widely used by the Soviet Air Force and Soviet Naval Aviation during World War II.
Design and development
In 19 ...
bombers from attacking targets within India.[Sieff 2009, p. 84.] In 1962, India had selected to procure its first supersonic-capable fighter, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, De ...
; large numbers of Russian-built fighters had increasingly supplemented the aging Hunters in the interceptor role by 1970.
The Hunter was to play a major role during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...
; along with the Gnat the Hunter was India's primary air defence fighter, and regularly engaged in dogfights with the Pakistani F-86 Sabres and F-104 Starfighters. The aerial war saw both sides conducting thousands of sorties in a single month.[Singh, Jasjit]
"The 1965 India-Pakistan War: IAF’s Ground Reality".
''The Sunday Tribune'', 6 May 2007. Both sides claimed victory in the air war, Pakistan claimed to have destroyed 104 aircraft against its own losses of 19, while India claimed to have destroyed 73 enemy aircraft and lost 35 of its own. Despite the intense fighting, the conflict was effectively a stalemate.
IAF Hunters performed extensive operations during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the
Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...
; India had six combat-ready squadrons of Hunters at the start of the conflict.[Coggins 2000, p. 165.] Pakistani infantry and armoured forces attacked the Indian outpost of Longewala
Longewala is a border town in the Thar Desert in the western part of Jaisalmer district, in the state of Rajasthan, India.
See also
* List of military disasters
* Battle of Longewala
The Battle of Longewala (4–7 December 1971) was one ...
in an event now known as the Battle of Longewala
The Battle of Longewala (4–7 December 1971) was one of the first major engagements in the western sector during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, fought between assaulting Pakistani forces and Indian defenders at the Indian border post of Longewa ...
. Six IAF Hunters stationed at Jaisalmer Air Force Base were able to halt the Pakistani advance at Longewala by conducting non-stop bombing raids. The aircraft attacked Pakistani tanks, armoured personnel carriers and gun positions and contributed to the increasingly chaotic battlefield conditions, which ultimately led to the retreat of Pakistan's ground forces.[Nordeen 1985, p. 100.] Hunters were also used for many ground-attack missions and raids inside Pakistan's borders, such as the high-profile bombing of the Attock Oil refinery to limit Pakistani fuel supplies. In the aftermath of the conflict, Pakistan claimed to have shot down a total of 32 of India's Hunters.
Due to unfavourable currency conditions and conflicting pressures on the military budget, several prospective procurements of modern aircraft such as the SEPECAT Jaguar
The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. It is still in service with the Indian Air Force.
Originall ...
and the British Aerospace Sea Harrier
The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval STOVL, short take-off and vertical landing/VTOL, vertical take-off and landing jet fighter, Aerial reconnaissance, reconnaissance and attack aircraft. It is the second member of the Harrier jump je ...
were put on hold following the 1971 war; the indigenously developed HAL HF-24 Marut
The HAL HF-24 Marut ("Spirit of the Tempest") was an Indian fighter-bomber aircraft of the 1960s. Developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), with Kurt Tank as lead designer. The Project Engineer from HAL was George William Benjamin. It ...
had also not been as successful as hoped, thus the IAF decided to retain the ageing fleets of Hunters and English Electric Canberra
The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...
bombers. After considering several foreign aircraft to replace the Hunter, including the Dassault Mirage F1
The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French fighter and attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was developed as a successor to the popular Mirage III family.
During the 1960s, Dassault commenced development of what would ...
, the Saab 37 Viggen
The Saab 37 Viggen (Swedish for ''"the Bolt"'' or ''"the Tufted Duck"'' ( see name)) is a retired Swedish single-seat, single-engine, short-medium range combat aircraft. Development work on the type was initiated at Saab in 1952 and, following ...
, and several Soviet models, the Indian government announced its intention to procure 200 Jaguars, a large portion of which were to be assembled domestically, in October 1978. In 1996, the last of the IAF's Hunters were phased out of service, the last squadron operating Hunters later converting to the newer Sukhoi Su-30MKI
The Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) is a twinjet Multirole combat aircraft, multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russia's Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian A ...
.
Swedish Air Force
In the early 1950s, the Swedish Air Force
The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces.
History
The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...
saw the need for an interceptor that could reach enemy bombers at a higher altitude than the J 29 Tunnan that formed the backbone of the fighter force. A contract for 120 Hawker Hunter Mk 50s (equivalent to the Mk 4) was therefore signed on 29 June 1954[Jackson 1982, p. 70.] and the first aircraft was delivered on 26 August 1955.[Mason 1991, p. 600.] The model was designated J 34 and was assigned to the F 8 and F 18 wings that defended Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
. The J 34 was armed with four 30 mm (1.18 in) cannon and two Sidewinders. The Swedish Air Force's aerobatic team Acro Hunters used five J 34s during the late 1950s. The J 34s were gradually replaced by supersonic J 35 Draken
The Saab 35 Draken (; 'The Kite' or 'The Dragon') is a Swedish fighter-interceptor developed and manufactured by Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (SAAB) between 1955 and 1974. Development of the Saab 35 Draken started in 1948 as the Swedish air fo ...
and reassigned to less prominent air wings, F 9 in Gothenburg and F 10 in Ängelholm, during the 1960s.[Griffin 2006, p. 431.]
A project to improve the performance of the J 34 resulted in one Hunter being fitted with a Swedish-designed afterburner in 1958. While this significantly increased the engine's thrust, there was little improvement in overall performance, so the project was shelved.[Mason 1991, pp. 398–399.] The last of the J 34s was retired from service in 1969.
Swiss Air Force
In 1957, the Swiss Air Force performed an extensive evaluation of several aircraft for a prospective purchase; competitors included the North American F-86 Sabre
The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing So ...
, the Folland Gnat
The Folland Gnat is a British compact swept-wing subsonic fighter aircraft that was developed and produced by Folland Aircraft. Envisioned as an affordable light fighter in contrast to the rising cost and size of typical combat aircraft, it wa ...
, and the Hawker Hunter; a pair of Hunters were loaned to the Swiss for further trials and testing.[Mason 1985, pp.126–127] In January 1958, the government of Switzerland chose to terminate their independent fighter aircraft project, the in-development FFA P-16
The FFA P-16 was a Swiss prototype ground attack jet fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke Altenrhein (FFA). It was Switzerland's second attempt to develop a domestically designed and manufactured jet fig ...
, instead choosing to order 100 Hunters to replace their existing fleet of de Havilland Vampire
The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and ...
fighters.[Lombardi 2007, p. 50.] Further development of the indigenous P-16 was discontinued. This initial order for 100 single-seat Hunters consisted of 12 refurbished RAF F.6s, and 88 new-built F.58s.[Donnet ''World Air Power Journal,'' Volume 20, Spring 1995, p. 138.][Lake ''Wings of Fame'' Volume 20, p. 96.][Martin 1996, p. 321.]
Swiss Hunters were operated as interceptors, with a secondary ground-attack role; from 1963 onwards, the outboard wing pylons were modified to carry two AIM-9 Sidewinder
The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prov ...
air-to-air missiles.[Lombardi 2007, p. 51.] In the ground-attack role, the Swiss Air Force maintained an arsenal of conventional iron bombs, a number of compatible napalm
Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated al ...
bombs were also maintained for intended use by the Hunters. In the interceptor role, the Hunters were supplemented by a surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
(SAM) defence system also procured from the United Kingdom, based on the Bristol Bloodhound
The Bristol Bloodhound is a British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s. It served as the UK's main air defence weapon into the 1990s and was in large-scale service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the forces of f ...
. In case of unserviceable airstrips, Swiss Air Force Jets would take off from adjacent highways, using them as improvised runways.
The ''Patrouille Suisse
The Patrouille Suisse is an aerobatic team of the Swiss Air Force. The team flies six Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighter/bomber jets.
History
The Patrouille Suisse was founded on August 22, 1964 with four Hawker Hunters. Two displays were also fl ...
'' flight demonstration team were prominent fliers of the Hawker Hunter for several decades. Squadron aircraft were fitted with smoke generators on the engine exhausts and, later on, were painted in a distinctive red-and-white livery. The group officially formed on 22 August 1964, and used the Hunter as its display aircraft until it was withdrawn from use in 1994, the team continued to perform flight display using newer aircraft.
The Hunter fleet endured several attempts to procure successor aircraft to the type; in the case of the Dassault Mirage III
The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizonta ...
this had been due to excessive cost overruns and poor project management rather than the attributes of the Hunter itself. A second attempt to replace the Hunter resulted in a competition between the French Dassault Milan
The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizonta ...
and the U.S. LTV A-7 Corsair II
The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV).
The A-7 was developed during the early 1960s as replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its design was ...
. Although the A-7 was eventually chosen as the winner, it would not be purchased and further 30 refurbished Hunters (22 F.58As and eight T.68 trainers) were purchased in 1974 instead.[Donnet ''World Air Power Journal'' Volume 20 Spring 1995, p. 140.]
By 1975, plans were laid to replace the Hunter in the air-to-air role with a more modern fighter aircraft, the Northrop F-5E Tiger II
The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models, the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants and the ...
. The Hunter remained in a key role within the Swiss Air Force; like the RAF's Hunter fleet, the type transitioned to become the country's primary ground attack platform, replacing the Venom. While the Swiss Hunters already had more armament options than the RAF aircraft, being cleared to carry Oerlikon 80 mm rockets instead of the elderly 3-inch rockets used by the RAF, to carry bombs from both inner and outer pylons and to launch AIM-9 Sidewinder
The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prov ...
air-to-air missiles,[Lake ''Wings of Fame'' Volume 20, pp. 81–82.][Braybrook ''Air International'' July 1981, p. 26.] the change to a primary air-to-ground role resulted in the Hunter 80 upgrade, adding chaff/flare dispensers, BL755
BL755 is a cluster bomb developed by Hunting Aircraft that contains 147 parachute-retarded high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) submunitions. Its primary targets are armoured vehicles and tanks with secondary soft target (anti personnel) capabilitie ...
cluster bomb
A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicl ...
s and the ability to carry AGM-65 Maverick
The AGM-65 Maverick is an air-to-ground missile (AGM) designed for close air support. It is the most widely produced precision-guided missile in the Western world, and is effective against a wide range of tactical targets, including armor, air ...
missiles.[Donnet ''World Air Power Journal,'' Volume 20, Spring 1995, p. 141.]
In the 1990s, the discovery of wing cracking led to the quick retirement of all Hunter F.58As. The end of the Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
also allowed Switzerland to retire its Hunters earlier than expected; the Hunter was completely withdrawn from Swiss service in 1994.[Donnet ''World Air Power Journal'' Volume 20, Spring 1995, p. 145.][Lake ''Wings of Fame'' Volume 20, pp. 82, 96.] The Swiss Air Force lost the capability to carry out air-to-ground operations when the Hunters were withdrawn from service.
Republic of Singapore Air Force
Singapore was an enthusiastic operator of the Hunter, first ordering the aircraft in 1968 during a massive expansion of the city-state's armed forces; deliveries began in 1971 and were completed by 1973. At the time, considerable international controversy was generated as Britain (and, as was later revealed, the U.S.) had refused to sell Hunters to neighbouring Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, sparking fears of a regional arms race and accusations of favouritism. The Republic of Singapore Air Force
The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) is the aerial service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for controlling and defending the airspace of the country, and providing air support to the Army and Navy. It was establish ...
(RSAF) eventually received 46 refurbished Hunters to equip two squadrons.[Atkins, Peter. "Singapore or Bust."'']Air Forces Monthly
''Air Forces Monthly'' is a military aviation magazine published by Key Publishing, and based in Stamford, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. It was established in 1988. It provides news and analysis on military aviation, technology and related topics ...
,'' Issue 67, November 1994..
In the late 1970s, the Singaporean Hunter fleet was upgraded and modified by Lockheed Aircraft Services Singapore (LASS) with an additional hardpoint
A hardpoint is an attachment location on a structural frame designed to transfer force and carry an external or internal load. The term is usually used to refer to the mounting points (more formally known as a weapon station or station) on the ...
under the forward fuselage and another two inboard pylons (wired only for AIM-9 Sidewinder
The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prov ...
s) before the main gears, bringing to a total of seven hardpoints for external stores and weapons delivery. As a result of these upgrades, they were redesignated as FGA.74S, FR.74S and T.75S. The RSAF Black Knights
The Black Knights is the official aerobatics team of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) featuring six F-16Cs Fighting Falcon in formation flight. The Black Knights' emblem is sported on the red vertical tail of each of the team's airc ...
, Singapore Air Force's aerobatic team
Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...
, flew Hunters from 1973 until 1989.
By 1991, Singapore's fleet of combat aircraft included the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...
, the Northrop F-5 Tiger II
The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models, the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants and t ...
, as well as the locally modernised and upgraded ST Aerospace A-4SU Super Skyhawk
The ST Aerospace A-4SU Super Skyhawk is a major upgrade project of the Douglas A-4S Skyhawk attack aircraft undertaken by Singapore Aircraft Industries (SAI, now ST Aerospace) in the 1980s. It was used exclusively by the Republic of Singapor ...
; the Hunters were active but obsolete in comparison. The type was finally retired and phased out of service in 1992, with the 21 surviving airframes being sold off to an Australian warbird
A warbird is any vintage military aircraft now operated by civilian organizations and individuals, or in some instances, by historic arms of military forces, such as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the RAAF Museum Historic Flight, or the ...
broker, Pacific Hunter Aviation Pty, in 1995.
Lebanese Air Force
The Lebanese Air Force
The Lebanese Air Force (LAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية اللبنانية, Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Lubnaniyya) is the aerial warfare branch of the Lebanese Armed Forces. The seal of the air force is a Roundel with two wings and a Lebanese C ...
operated Hawker Hunters from 1958 to 2014. A Lebanese Hunter shot down an Israeli jet over Kfirmishki in the early 1960s; its pilot was captured by the Lebanese Armed Forces
)
, founded = 1 August 1945
, current_form = 1991
, disbanded =
, branches = Lebanese Ground ForcesLebanese Air Force Lebanese Navy
, headquarters = Yarze, Lebanon
, flying_hours =
, websit ...
. One Hunter was shot down on the first day of the Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
by the Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...
. They were used infrequently during the Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...
, and eventually fell out of usage and went into storage during the 1980s.
In August 2007, the Lebanese Armed Forces planned to put its Hunters back into service following the 2007 Lebanon conflict
The 2007 Lebanon conflict began when fighting broke out between Fatah al-Islam, an Islamist militant organization, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) on May 20, 2007 in Nahr al-Bared, an UNRWA Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli.
It was t ...
, to deal with Fatah al-Islam
Fatah al-Islam ( ar, فتح الإسلام, meaning: ''Conquest of Islam'') is a radical Sunni Islamist group that formed in November 2006 in a Palestinian refugee camp, located in Lebanon. It has been described as a militant jihadistLe Figaro ...
militants in the Nahr el-Bared camp north of Tripoli. The programme was delayed by lack of spare parts for the aircraft, such as cartridges for the Martin-Baker ejection seats.[Lake ''Air International'' March 2011, p. 77.] On 12 November 2008, 50 years after its original introduction, the Lebanese Air Force returned four of its eight Hunters to service with 2nd Squadron, based at Rayak AB: one two-seater and three single-seaters. Military exercises were conducted with Hunters, such as those that took place on 12 July 2010. The Hunters were retired from service during 2014.
Others
Africa
During the 1950s, the Royal Rhodesian Air Force
The Rhodesian Air Force (RhAF) was an air force based in Salisbury (now Harare) which represented several entities under various names between 1935 and 1980: originally serving the British self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia, it was the ...
was an important export customer of Britain, purchasing not only Hunters but also De Havilland Vampire
The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and ...
s and Canberra bombers.[Petter-Bowyer 2005, p. 52.] Rhodesia later deployed its Hunter FGA.9s extensively against ZANLA
Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant African nationalist organisation that participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rhode ...
and ZIPRA
Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), a Marxist–Leninist political party in Rhodesia. It participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rhodes ...
guerrillas during the Rhodesian Bush War
The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia).
The conflict pitted three for ...
in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, occasionally engaging in cross-border raids over Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
and Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
. The Zimbabwean Air Force Hunters were flown to support Laurent Kabila
Laurent may refer to:
*Laurent (name), a French masculine given name and a surname
**Saint Laurence (aka: Saint ''Laurent''), the martyr Laurent
**Pierre Alphonse Laurent, mathematician
**Joseph Jean Pierre Laurent, amateur astronomer, discoverer ...
's loyalists during the Second Congo War
The Second Congo War,, group=lower-alpha also known as the Great War of Africa or the Great African War and sometimes referred to as the African World War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year a ...
, and were reported to be involved in the Mozambican Civil War
The Mozambican Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Moçambicana) was a civil war fought in Mozambique from 1977 to 1992. Like many regional African conflicts during the late twentieth century, the Mozambican Civil War possessed local dynamics but was a ...
. They remained in service in 2022. In Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
, the Siad Barre
Mohamed Siad Barre ( so, Maxamed Siyaad Barre, Osmanya script: ; ar, محمد سياد بري; c. 1910 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali head of state and general who served as the 3rd president of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 199 ...
regime's fleet of ageing Hunters, often piloted by former Rhodesian servicemen, carried out several bombing missions against rebel units in the late 1980s.
Belgium and the Netherlands
The Belgian Air Force
The Belgian Air Component ( nl, Luchtcomponent, french: Composante air) is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force ( nl, Belgische Luchtmacht; french: Force aérienne belg ...
received 112 Hunter F.4s between 1956 and 1957 to replace the Gloster Meteor F.8
The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneered ...
.[Jackson 1977, pp. 63–73.] The aircraft were built under licence in both Belgium and the Netherlands in a joint programme, some using US offshore funding. SABCA
SABCA (Sociétés Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aéronautiques) is a Belgian aerospace company. Its main sectors of activity are civil aviation, space and defence.
SABCA was established during 1920. Presently, it is owned by the French aircraf ...
and Avions Fairey
Avions Fairey was the Belgian-based subsidiary of the British Fairey Aviation that built aircraft for the Belgian government. It subsequently separated from the UK parent and became SONACA.
History
In the late 1920s, the ''Aéronautique Mili ...
built 64 aircraft in Belgium and a further 48 were built in the Netherlands by Fokker
Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...
. The Hunters were used by Nos. 1, 3 and 9 Wings but did not serve for long; the aircraft with 1 Wing were replaced in 1958 by the Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck
The Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck (affectionately known as the "Clunk") is a Canadian twinjet interceptor/ fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Avro Canada. It has the distinction of being the only Canadian-designed fighter to e ...
, and most were scrapped afterwards.
The Belgian and Dutch governments subsequently ordered the improved Hunter F.6, with Nos. 1, 7 and 9 Wings of the Belgian Air Force receiving 112 Fokker-built aircraft between 1957 and 1958. Although built in the Netherlands, 29 aircraft had been assembled from kits in Belgium by SABCA and 59 by Avions Fairey, and were operated by 7 and 9 Wings. No. 9 Wing was disbanded in 1960, and by 1963 the Hunter squadrons in 7 Wing had also been disbanded. A large number of the surviving Hunters were sold to Hawker Aircraft and re-built for re-export to India and Iraq, with others to Chile, Kuwait and Lebanon.
Middle East
Between 1964 and 1975, both Britain and France delivered significant quantities of arms, including Hunters, to Iraq. The Hunters were far more effective in fighting guerrilla activity than the Russian MiG-17
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-17; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 w ...
s then operated by Iraq. In 1967, Hunters of the Iraqi Air Force
The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF or IrAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية العراقية, Al Quwwat al Jawwiyah al Iraqiyyah}) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It is responsible for the defense of Iraqi airspace as well ...
saw action after the Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
between Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and several neighbouring Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
nations. During the War of Attrition
The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...
Iraqi Hunters usually operated from bases in Egypt and Syria. While flying a Hunter from Iraqi Airbase H3, Flight Lieutenant Saiful Azam
Saiful Azam (11 September 1941 – 14 June 2020) was a Bangladeshi pilot and politician who first served as a fighter pilot for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (1960–1971) and later the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) (1971–1979). During his care ...
, on exchange from the Pakistan Air Force
, "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional)
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = ...
, shot down three Israeli jets including a Sud Aviation Vautour
The Sud-Ouest Aviation (SNCASO) S.O. 4050 Vautour II (French for ''vulture'') was a French jet-powered bomber, interceptor, and attack aircraft developed and manufactured by aircraft company Sud Aviation.
The Vautour was operated by France's ...
and a Mirage IIICJ. Some missions were also flown by the Royal Jordanian Air Force
The Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; ar, سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī) is the aerial warfare branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces.
History
Early days
Jordan gained independence in 19 ...
, but most of the Jordanian Hunters were destroyed on the ground on the first day of the Six-Day War. Replacement Hunters for Jordanian service were acquired from both Britain and Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
in the war's aftermath. These were used with considerable success in ground attacks against Syrian Army
" (''Guardians of the Homeland'')
, colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive
* Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki
, anniversaries = August 1st
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War
Six ...
tanks during the Black September Crisis.
South America
During the 1960s and 1970s, Chile completed the acquisition of Hunters from Britain for service in the Chilean Air Force
"With full speed to the stars"
, colours = Indigo White
, colours_label =
, march = Alte Kameraden
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 21 March ...
.[Arce 2004, p. 17.] In June 1973, the Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
n oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crud ...
''Napier'' ran aground on Guamblin Island
__FORCETOC__
Guamblin Island, also known as Socorro Island, Nuestra Señora del Socorro, or Huamblin, is a Chilean island located in the Pacific Ocean. The island is designated as a National Park and is recognized as an Important Bird Area due t ...
, accidentally releasing 30,000 tons of oil. After the rescue of the crew, the vessel was fired upon and set on fire by Chilean Hunters in an effort to burn the oil to avoid further environmental contamination.
During the 1973 Chilean coup d'état
The 1973 Chilean coup d'état Enciclopedia Virtual > Historia > Historia de Chile > Del gobierno militar a la democracia" on LaTercera.cl. Retrieved 22 September 2006.
In October 1972, Chile suffered the first of many strikes. Among the par ...
, some of the Hunters were used by military officers as part of the effort to successfully overthrow the socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
president of Chile, Salvador Allende
Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...
, on 11 September 1973. On 10 September 1973, coup leaders ordered the Hunters to relocate to Talcahuano
Talcahuano () (From Mapudungun ''Tralkawenu'', "Thundering Sky") is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile.
Geo ...
in preparation. The following morning, the aircraft were used to conduct bombing missions against Palacio de La Moneda
Palacio de La Moneda (, ''Palace of the Mint''), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the President of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency and General Secret ...
, Allende's official residence in Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
, and several radio stations loyal to the government. The UK had signed contracts prior to the Chilean coup d'état for delivery of a further seven Hunters, as well as performing engine overhauls and the delivery of other equipment. The government under Prime Minister James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...
delayed the delivery of the aircraft, along with vessels and submarines also on order; the trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
s took action to block delivery of refurbished Hunter engines at the East Kilbride
East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...
plant until October 1978. The action was led by Rolls-Royce workers, Bob Fulton, Robert Sommerville and John Keenan, who hid the engines in the factory. The Government of Chile bestowed on 16 April 2015, its highest civilian medal the Order Bernardo O'Higgins Medal on the three workers for their action of solidarity. The protest is the subject of the 2018 documentary film ''Nae Pasaran
''Nae Pasaran'' is a 2018 documentary directed by Felipe Bustos Sierra about a group of workers at a Rolls-Royce factory in East Kilbride, Scotland, who refused to work on Chilean Air Force parts from 1974-78 due to the atrocities carried out ...
''. In 1982, after the Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
, a number of Hunters were air freighted to Chile as part of the arrangements for providing support for UK operations in the South Atlantic.
The purchase of Hunters by Chile may have been a factor in the decision by the Peruvian Air Force
The Peruvian Air Force ( es, link=no, Fuerza Aérea del Perú, FAP) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with defending the nation and its interests through the use of air power. Additional missions include assistance in safeguardin ...
to acquire Hunters of their own. Britain was keen to sell to Peru as the decision to sell Hunters to Chile became a controversial political issue for the British government following the Chilean coup; the sale also upheld Britain's concept of regional "balancing".
Variants
Operators
Military operators
*
*
*
*[Schrøder, Hans (1991). "Royal Danish Airforce". Ed. Kay S. Nielsen. Tøjhusmuseet, 1991, p. 63. .]
*
*
*
*
*[Jackson 1990, p. 137.]
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Civil
A number of civil organisations operate or have operated Hunters for use as aerial targets and for threat simulation under contract with the military. Other Hunters are owned and operated for public display and demonstration:
;Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC)
* The American company ATAC ATAC, or Atac, may refer to:
* Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, a U.S. government contractor which operates foreign military aircraft for training purposes
* Anti-Terrorist Action Command, a fictional police organization in the 1981 movie ''N ...
, based at Williamsburg International Airport in Newport News, Virginia, has operated 14 former Swiss F.58s on United States government contracts, though three have since been lost in accidents.
;Apache Aviation
*Contracted by the French Navy, Apache is based at Istres in Provence, France, with frequent deployments to Lorient and Landivisiau in Brittany, other locations as required. Operates two single-seater and one two-seat Hunters. Operations are associated with Lortie Aviation Lortie is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Andrew Lortie, French theologian
* Bernard Lortie (born 1951), Canadian terrorist
* Denis Lortie
Denis Lortie (born March 10, 1959) is a former Canadian Forces corporal. ...
.
;Delta Jets
*Operated between 1995 and 2010 from Kemble Airport
Cotswold Airport (formerly Kemble Airfield) is a private general aviation airport, near the village of Kemble, Gloucestershire, Kemble in Gloucestershire, England. Located southwest of Cirencester, it was built as a Royal Air Force (RAF) stat ...
near Cirencester
Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...
, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
with three operational Hunters. The company went into liquidation in 2010, Hunter G-FFOX (WV318) is now operated by the Hunter Flight academy.
;Dutch Hawker Hunter Foundation
*Operates a Hunter T.8C two-seater in RNLAF markings and a single-seat Hunter F.6A in Dutch markings, based at Leeuwarden Air Base
Leeuwarden Air Base ( nl, Vliegbasis Leeuwarden) is a military airbase used by the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) - nl, Koninklijke Luchtmacht (''KLu''), . The airbase was formerly one of the two F-16 Fighting Falcon bases of the RNLAF ...
in the Netherlands.
;Embraer
*Operates an ex-Chilean Air Force Hunter T.72 as a flight test chase plane.
;Hawker Hunter Aviation
*Based at RAF Scampton
Royal Air Force Scampton or RAF Scampton is a Royal Air Force station located adjacent to the A15 road near to the village of Scampton, Lincolnshire, and north-west of the city of Lincoln, England.
RAF Scampton stands on the site of a First ...
, it operates a fleet of 12 Mk 58 and three two-seaters (T.7 and T.8), as well as other aircraft to provide high speed aerial threat simulation, mission support training and trials support services.
;Hunter Flight Academy.
*Operates a Hunter T.7a G-FFOX (WV318) callsign "FireFox" – a two-seat Hunter in 111sqn "Black Arrows" colours and markings. The Hunter T.7a is based at North Weald Airfield
North Weald Airfield is an operational general aviation aerodrome, in the civil parish of North Weald Bassett in Epping Forest, Essex, England. It was an important fighter station during the Battle of Britain, when it was known as the RAF Stati ...
in the UK.
;Hunter Flying Ltd. (now Horizon Aircraft Services Ltd.)
*Based at MOD St Athan
Ministry of Defence St Athan or MOD St Athan (Welsh: Maes awyr Sain Tathan), formerly known as RAF St Athan, is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales. It was the designated site fo ...
in Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
, Hunter Flying Ltd maintains over 15 privately owned examples of the Hunter.
;International Test Pilots School
* International Test Pilots School
The International Test Pilots School Canada (ITPS Canada) located in London, Ontario, is one of the eight test pilot schools recognized globally by the international Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the Society of Flight Test Engineers. Th ...
- three aircraft operating from the London International Airport
London International Airport is located northeast of the city of London, Ontario, Canada.
In 2018, the airport handled 514,685 passengers, and, in 2011, was the 20th busiest in Canada in terms of aircraft movements, with 94,747. Air Canada E ...
, London, Ontario
London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...
, Canada.
;Lortie Aviation
*Lortie Aviation Lortie is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Andrew Lortie, French theologian
* Bernard Lortie (born 1951), Canadian terrorist
* Denis Lortie
Denis Lortie (born March 10, 1959) is a former Canadian Forces corporal. ...
of Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
(formerly known as Northern Lights Combat Air Support) is based in Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
and owns 21 Hunters (mainly ex-Swiss F.58 variants) that are leased out for military training duties. In August 2021, Lortie was successful as the only bidder to purchase five jets and the spare parts from the Lebanese Air Force
The Lebanese Air Force (LAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية اللبنانية, Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Lubnaniyya) is the aerial warfare branch of the Lebanese Armed Forces. The seal of the air force is a Roundel with two wings and a Lebanese C ...
, for a price expected to be around US$1m. They were believed to have not been operational since 2010.[Canadian firm begins negotiations to buy Lebanese Hawker Hunter jets](_blank)
Agnes Helou, DefenseNews, 2021-08-12
;Thunder City
*Three flyable Hunters are based at Thunder City
Thunder City is an aircraft operating and maintenance company based at the Cape Town International Airport in Cape Town, South Africa. It was well known for owning the largest civilian collection of former military jet aircraft in the world. Thes ...
at Cape Town International Airport
Cape Town International Airport is the primary international airport serving the city of Cape Town, and is the second-busiest airport in South Africa and fourth-busiest in Africa. Located approximately from the city center, the airport wa ...
in South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. Four (of the seven) Hunters owned by Thunder City were up for auction in April 2013
Aircraft on display
*
* Hunter F.4 at Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History
The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History (french: Musée Royal de l'Armée et d'Histoire Militaire, often abbreviated to MRA, nl, Koninklijk Museum van het Leger en de Krijgsgeschiedenis, KLM) is a military museum that occupi ...
, Brussels, Belgium
* Hunter FGA.9 XG154 on static display at RAF Museum, Hendon
*
* Hunter F.1 at Caernarfon Airworld Museum, Wales
*
* Hunter GA.11 WV382 on static display at East Midlands Aeropark
East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () north ...
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
*
* Hunter FR.10 XJ714 on static display at East Midlands Aeropark
East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () north ...
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
* Hunter T.7 XL565 at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome
Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome and Proving Ground is a privately-owned former airport near the village of Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire to the south of Leicester. It was opened as RAF Bruntingthorpe in 1942.
History
The aerodrome was origin ...
, Leicestershire (including sections of WT745 & XL591)
* Hunter F.6A XG225 at RAF Museum Cosford
The Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, located in Cosford in Shropshire, is a free (currently, 2022) museum dedicated to the history of aviation and the Royal Air Force in particular. The museum is part of the Royal Air Force Museum, a non-departme ...
* Hunter T.7A XL 568 at RAF Museum Cosford
The Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, located in Cosford in Shropshire, is a free (currently, 2022) museum dedicated to the history of aviation and the Royal Air Force in particular. The museum is part of the Royal Air Force Museum, a non-departme ...
* Hunter T.7 XL569 on static display at East Midlands Aeropark
East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () north ...
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
* Hunter T.8M XL580 at the Fleet Air Arm Museum
The Fleet Air Arm Museum is devoted to the history of British naval aviation. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, aero engines, models of aircraft and Royal Navy ships (especially aircraft carriers), and paintin ...
, Somerset
*Hunter F.6 on display at the National Air Force Museum of Canada
The National Air Force Museum of Canada is an aviation museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is located on the west side of CFB Trenton in Trenton, Ontario.
The museum is a permanent archive which c ...
in Trenton, Ontario
Trenton (2001 population 16,770) is a large unincorporated community in Central Ontario in the municipality of Quinte West, Ontario, Canada. Located on the Bay of Quinte, it is the starting point for the Trent-Severn Waterway, which continues no ...
* Hunter T.7 XL600 on display at the Jet Aircraft Museum, London, Ontario, Canada.
* Hunter T.7 XL623 mounted in the town centre of Woking
Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...
, Surrey
*
*
*
* Hunter FGA.78 N-268 at Yorkshire Air Museum
The Yorkshire Air Museum & Allied Air Forces Memorial is an aviation museum in Elvington, York on the site of the former RAF Elvington airfield, a Second World War RAF Bomber Command station. The museum was founded, and first opened to the pu ...
, Elvington, North Yorkshire
* Hunter T.7 XL572 painted blue to represent the Blue Diamonds formation teams lead XL571 at Yorkshire Air Museum
The Yorkshire Air Museum & Allied Air Forces Memorial is an aviation museum in Elvington, York on the site of the former RAF Elvington airfield, a Second World War RAF Bomber Command station. The museum was founded, and first opened to the pu ...
, Elvington, North Yorkshire
* Hunter T.7 XL618 at Newark Air Museum
Newark Air Museum is an air museum located on a former Royal Air Force station at Winthorpe, near Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, England. The museum contains a variety of aircraft.
History
The airfield was known as RAF Winthorpe during ...
, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
* Hunter F.1 WT651 at Newark Air Museum
Newark Air Museum is an air museum located on a former Royal Air Force station at Winthorpe, near Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, England. The museum contains a variety of aircraft.
History
The airfield was known as RAF Winthorpe during ...
, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
* Hunter F.1 WT680 at the Anglia Motel, on the A17 West of King's Lynn
King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...
in Fleet Hargate, Lincolnshire
*
*
*
* Hunter F-6 XF437, later FR-74S at Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, Wollongong, NSW
* Hunter F.4 Mk 50 at Flygvapenmuseum
The Swedish Air Force Museum ( sv, Flygvapenmuseum) is located at Malmen Airbase in Malmslätt, just outside Linköping, Sweden. Malmen is where Baron Carl Cederström, nicknamed the "Flyer Baron" founded his flying school in 1912. Malmen Airba ...
, Linköping
Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...
, Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
*Hunter F.4 N-122 is in storage at the Nationaal Militair Museum, Soesterberg
Soesterberg is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Soest, and lies about 5 km northeast of Zeist, on the road between Amersfoort and Utrecht. It was the location of Soesterberg Air Base
History
The ...
, The Netherlands.
*Hunter F6 XE614 on display at Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra
*Hunter F4 XF311 on display at Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra
*Hunter F.4 N-144 is on display at the Nationaal Militair Museum, Soesterberg
Soesterberg is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Soest, and lies about 5 km northeast of Zeist, on the road between Amersfoort and Utrecht. It was the location of Soesterberg Air Base
History
The ...
, The Netherlands.
*Hunter F.4 N-112 is now on display at Dirgantara Mandala Museum
Dirgantara Mandala Museum, officially known as the Central Museum of Indonesian Air Force "Dirgantara Mandala" is a central museum of the Indonesian Air Force. The museum displays historical exhibits related to the history of the Indonesian Air Fo ...
, Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...
, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
.
*Hunter F.51 401 is now on display at Danmarks Flymuseum
The Danmarks Flymuseum is a museum located at Stauning Vestjylland Airport, Stauning Airport in Stauning (village), Stauning, Denmark.
It has a collection of around 70 aircraft from the period 1911 until 2000. Around 60 aircraft are on display. ...
, Stauning, Denmark
*Hunter F.2 WN904 is on display at Sywell Aviation Museum
Sywell Aviation Museum is based at Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire, England. It is sited in the aircraft viewing car park at the aerodrome. It documents the history of flying in Northamptonshire from the early days to the present day with ...
*Hunter F.1 WT619 is on display at Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre
The Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre is located to the North of Montrose, Angus, Scotland. Montrose has the distinction of having the first operational military airfield in Great Britain and the Heritage Centre is located on the former ...
*Hunter F.1 WT555 is on display within Vanguard Self Storage Staples Corner, London
Accidents and incidents
* 8 February 1956 – Hawker Hunter multiple aircraft accident after a sudden deterioration in the weather during a dogfight exercise in Norfolk, England
* 7 June 1957 – Mid-air collision between two 111 Squadron Hunters during an aerobatic display rehearsal near RAF North Weald, Essex, England. One of the damaged Hunters involved limped as far as Stansted, where it managed to land successfully on the long runway; the other (XF525) crashed onto the Epping-Ongar railway at North Weald (the eastern end of the London Underground Central Line, which closed in 1994). The pilot was killed. The track was badly damaged by wreckage and a steam train was derailed. Three of the 20 passengers were slightly injured and the driver, Arthur Green, who operated out of Stratford Depot, was commended for his actions. Wreckage from the jet could be seen in the area for many years afterwards.
* 5 April 1968 – unauthorised flight through Tower Bridge in London.
* 22 August 2015 – A Hunter T7 (G-BXFI) crashed
"Crashed" is the third U.S. rock Single (music), single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry (band), Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stat ...
onto the A27 arterial road (dual carriageway) between Lancing and Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, England, while taking part in the 2015 Shoreham Airshow
Shoreham Airshow took place annually, in the late summer, at Brighton City Airport (commonly known as Shoreham Airport), on the south coast of England. It was organised by volunteers from the local branch of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAF ...
. Eleven people on the ground were killed and several others were injured, including the pilot of the plane. Witnesses told local TV that the jet appeared to have crashed when it failed to pull out of a loop manoeuvre. The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) investigates civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and crown dependencies. It is also the Space Accident Investigation Authority (SAIA) ...
concluded that the crash was caused by the pilot completing the top of the loop at too low an altitude and at too low an airspeed. The AAIB concluded that the pilot may have confused the parameters for the Hunter with the Jet Provost
The BAC Jet Provost is a British jet trainer aircraft that was in use with the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1955 to 1993. It was originally developed by Hunting Percival from the earlier piston engine-powered Percival Provost basic trainer, and ...
he had recently flown, saying, "a possible error path was that the pilot recalled the wrong numbers, essentially mixing up the two aircraft."
Specifications (Hunter F.6)
Notable appearances in media
See also
Notes
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
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* Beckett, Ian Frederick William and John Pimlott
''Armed Forces & Modern Counter-Insurgency''
London: Taylor & Francis, 1985. .
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''Wings That Stay On''
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''Britain and the Economic Problem of the Cold War: The Political Economy and the Economic Impact of the British Defence Effort, 1945–1955''
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* Green, William and John Fricker. ''The Air Forces of the World: Their History, Development, and Present Strength''. London: Macdonald, 1958.
* Griffin, David J
''Hawker Hunter 1951 to 2007''
Morrisville, North Carolina: Lulu Enterprises, 2006. .
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* "Hawker Hunter." ''Vliegend in Nederland 4'' (in Dutch). Eindhoven, Netherlands: Flash Aviation, 1990. .
* Hirst, David. ''Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East''. New York: Nation Books, 2010. .
* Jackson, Paul A. ''Belgian Military Aviation 1945–1977''. Hinckley, Leicestershire, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1977. .
* Jackson, Robert. ''Hawker Hunter: The Operational Record, Volume 31''. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990. .
* Jackson, Robert. ''Modern Combat Aircraft 15, Hawker Hunter''. Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan, 1982. .
* James, Derek N. ''Hawker: Aircraft Album No. 5''. New York: Arco Publishing Company, 1973 (First published in the UK by Ian Allan in 1972). .
* Jeshurun, Chandran. ''The Growth of the Malaysian Armed Forces, 1963–1973''. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1975.
* Kavic, Lorne J. ''India's Quest for Security: Defence Policies, 1947–1965''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1967.
* Lake, Jon. "Hawker Hunter". ''Wings of Fame''. Volume 20, 2000. pp. 28–97. London: Aerospace Publishing. . .
* Lake, Jon. "Last Bastion of the Hunter". ''Air International
''AIR International'' is a British aviation magazine covering current defence aerospace and civil aviation topics. It has been in publication since 1971 and is currently published by Key Publishing Ltd.
History and profile
The magazine was fir ...
'', Vol. 80, No 3, March 2011, pp. 74–79. Stamford, UK: Key Publishing. .
* Laming, Tim
''Fight's On: Airborne with the Aggressors''
Minneapolis, Minnesota: Zenith Imprint, 1996. .
* Law, John
''Aircraft Stories: Decentering the Object in Technoscience''
Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2002. .
* Lefebvre, Jeffery A. ''Arms for the Horn: U.S. Security Policy in Ethiopia and Somalia, 1953–1991''. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh, 1992. .
* Lombardi, Fiona. ''The Swiss Air Power: Wherefrom? Whereto?'' Hochschulverlag AG, 2007. .
* Martin, Stephen. ''The Economics of Offsets: Defence Procurement and Countertrade''. London: Routledge, 1996. .
* Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter since 1912''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1992. .
* Mason, Francis K. ''Hawker Aircraft since 1920.'' London: Putnam, 1991. .
* Mason, Francis K. ''Hawker Hunter: Biography of a Thoroughbred''. Wellingborough, Northampton, UK: Patrick Stephens Limited, 1985. .
* McLelland, Tim. ''The Hawker Hunter''. Manchester, UK: Crécy Publishing Ltd., 2008. .
* Mohan, P. V. S. Jagan and Samir Chopra. ''The India-Pakistan Air War of 1965''. New Delhi, India: Manohar, 2005. .
* Nordeen, Lon O. ''Air Warfare in the Missile Age''. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1985. .
* Petter-Bowyer, Peter J. H
''Winds of Destruction: The Autobiography of a Rhodesian Combat Pilot''
Johannesburg, South Africa: 30° South Publishers, 2005. .
* Phythian, Mark. ''The Politics of British Arms Sales Since 1964: To Secure Our Rightful Share''. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2000, .
* Pollack, Kenneth Michael. ''Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948–1991''. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2002. .
* Phythian, Mark
''The Politics of British Arms Sales Since 1964''
Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2000. .
* Rolland, John C. ''Lebanon: Current Issues and Background''. New York: Nova Publishers, 2003. .
* Scholey, Pete and Frederick Forsyth. ''Who Dares Wins: Special Forces Heroes of the SAS''. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2008. .
* Senior, Tim. ''The Air Forces Book of the F/A-18 Hornet''. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Zenith Imprint, 2003. .
* Smith, Chris Nicholas. ''India's Ad Hoc Arsenal: Direction Or Drift in Defence Policy?''. Oxford University Press, 1994. .
* Sieff, Martin. ''Shifting Superpowers: The New and Emerging Relationship Between the United States, China, and India''. Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Indust ...
, 2009. .
* Skardon, C Philip. ''A Lesson for Our Times: How America Kept the Peace in the Hungary-Suez Crisis of 1956''. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2010. .
* Thomas, Andrew. ''Assegai Hunters''. ''Air Enthusiast
''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to '' Air International'' maga ...
'' 111, May/June 2004, pp. 74–79.
"The Hunters Are Here"
''Flight International'', February 1955. pp. 237–243.
* Van Creveld, Martin. ''The Age of Airpower''. PublicAffairs, 2012. .
* Winchester, Jim, ed. "Hawker Hunter". ''Military Aircraft of the Cold War'' (The Aviation Factfile). London: Grange Books plc, 2006. .
* Wood, Derek. ''Project Cancelled''. Macdonald and Jane's Publishers, 1975. .
External links
The FRADU Hunters web-site
a 1958 ''Flight'' article
{{good article
1950s British fighter aircraft
Hunter
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
Single-engined jet aircraft
Cruciform tail aircraft
Mid-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1951