Iraq está negociando la posible compra de 24 Hawk de entrenamiento, lo que supondría resucitar este modelo cuya carrera parecía haber acabado, y supondría la primera venta a de armas del Reino Unido a Iraq en 20 años. Precisamente en 1989 una venta de Hawk fue bloqueada por el Reino Unido, debido al embargo de armamento por la guerra contra Iran.
(combataircraft.com)
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The Iraqi Government is in talks to buy 24 Hawk trainer.
The BAE Systems Hawk is being considered alongside jets from Korea and Italy as Iraq starts to rebuild an air force that was destroyed by coalition forces during the Gulf War.
If Hawk wins the Iraqi competition, it will be a significant milestone in the rebirth of an aircraft that some analysts had written off. Declining orders for Hawk had forced Europe’s largest defence company to cut 450 jobs at Brough, near Hull, two years ago.
Separately, India is set to order another 60 Hawks in addition to the 66 it has already booked. That deal could be announced within weeks.
Poland is also considering a new fleet of trainer aircraft and even France, which has traditionally bought only domestic military aircraft, has expressed an interest in the Hawk.
The main rivals to Hawk are Korea’s T50, which is a more expensive supersonic aircraft, and Italy’s Maki 346, which is still only a prototype.
BAE declined to comment on specific export orders but said that it was optimistic about several sales opportunities.
The interest from Iraq comes as the country starts to rebuild its armed forces. The country has signed a contract to buy up to 15 Beechcraft T-6A turbo-prop aircraft from the United States to provide initial flight training for pilots. However, fast-jet training is also required before Iraqi pilots can climb into fighter jets and officials have begun a search for a suitable aircraft.
BAE’s predecessor British Aerospace was in talks with the Iraqis in 1989 to sell 50 Hawks. This deal was blocked by the British Government amid concern that the aircraft could be converted for combat missions, which would have contravened arms restrictions put in place during the Iran-Iraq war.
(combataircraft.com)
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