Successful maiden flight by Patria-modified Hawk Mk66
On 5 May 2011, a two-seater Hawk Mk66 aircraft upgraded by Patria made a successful maiden flight in Halli, Finland. It spent over one hour in the air.
In 2007, the Finnish Air Force purchased 18 pre-owned Hawk Mk66s from Switzerland. These supplemented the Hawk Mk 51/51A fleet purchased earlier. In 2009, this was followed up by an order placed with Patria, for an extensive cockpit and avionics upgrade of the aircraft. All 18 aircraft will be upgraded by 2013. The programme will have an employment effect on Patria of approximately 140 person-years.
Patria has been maintaining Hawks since 1980, when the Finnish Air Force brought the aircraft into service. In addition, Patria has carried out large-scale modifications of the aircraft. The new, upgraded aircraft will further increase the Kauhava-based training centre's capacity to offer high-quality flight training for both Finnish pilots and foreign customers.
“After the upgrades, the Mk 66 aircrafts’ avionics systems will incorporate the full range of features required for modern flight training. The Hawks’ training efficiency will be improved and, instead of the Hornets currently used, the Hawk fleet will be deployable for a number of training modules, but at more affordable operating costs,” says Lassi Matikainen, President of Patria's Aviation Business Unit.
Patria was in charge of the specification, design and implementation of the entire system integration. “The upgrading includes the replacement of all important avionics devices and cockpit display systems by new digital ones. The design is based on the upgrade already implemented on MK 51/51A aircraft. Under the current programme, Patria was also responsible for developing software for the aircraft’s main computer, the so-called Mission Computer,” says Matikainen, describing the upgrading process.
The development potential of the software developed by Patria will ensure that Hawk training aircraft can be developed domestically far into the future. They will thereby meet any future challenges that might arise in flight training. Upgrades require extremely extensive expertise, ranging from in-depth knowledge of avionics to understanding of software development processes. Due to the programme, Patria has significantly increased its expertise.
Further information: President of Patria Aviation Lassi Matikainen, tel. 040 869 3351, [email protected]
Patria is a trusted provider of defence, security and aviation life-cycle support services and technology solutions. Patria is owned by the State of Finland (73.2%) and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V. (26.8%).
