HAL’s Hawk-i test-fires Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon

BENGALURU: State-owned aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd on Thursday successfully test fired a Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) from the Hawk-i aircraft off the coast of Odisha. The indigenous stand-off weapon developed by the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), DRDO, is the first smart weapon fired from an Indian Hawk-Mk132. The SAAW is an aircraft-launched, advanced, precision strike weapon of 125 kg category used to attack and destroy enemy airfield assets such as radars, bunkers, taxi tracks and runways within a range of 100 km. It has been earlier successfully test fired from Jaguar aircraft, said a statement issued by the HAL.

R Madhavan, CMD, HAL, said HAL has been focusing on the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ campaign and the company owned Hawk-i platform is being extensively used for certification of systems and weapons developed indigenously by DRDO and CSIR labs. The PSU is indigenously enhancing the training and combat capability of Hawk-i and they are in discussions with armed forces for integration of various weapons on Hawk platform, said Arup Chatterjee, Director, Engineering and R&D, HAL.

The aircraft, flown by HAL test pilots Wg Cdr (Retd) P Awasthi and Wg Cdr (Retd) M Patel, executed the weapon release in a textbook manner and all mission objectives were met. The telemetry and tracking systems captured all the mission events confirming the success of the trials. The Hawk-i  is HAL’s internally funded programme offering the Indian Armed Forces an upgrade and combat capability for the Hawk, transforming it into an Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) providing training on sensors and weapons in peacetime into a potent combat platform during conflict.