Finnish Air Force receives upgraded Hawk Mk66s

The first  Hawk Mk66 advanced trainers equipped with upgraded glass cockpits have been handed over to the Finnish Air Force by Esterline CMC Electronics (CMC) at Kauhava Air Base on November 17, 2011. CMC made the announcement in a 23 November 2011 company statement.

The Finnish Air Force has a fleet of 18 ex-Swiss Air Force BAE Systems Hawk Mk66 aircraft purchased in 2007, and 8 Hawk Mk51s. The Hawk Mk51s recently completed an upgrade to the CMC integrated glass Cockpit 4000 as part of an avionics upgrade. When the Hawk Mk66 upgrade is complete the Finnish Air Force will have a fleet of 26 upgraded Hawks.

According to the company, CMC was contracted by Patria for the upgrade work. The Patria upgrade core avionics comprise CMC’s powerful open-architecture mission computer, a wide field of view SparrowHawk Head-Up Display (HUD) and Up Front Control Panel, two 5x7 inch Multifunction Displays (one in each cockpit), and a HUD repeater for the rear seat instructor in each aircraft. In addition, the avionics suite features mature and proven operational flight programs that integrate the aircraft sensors, radios and weapons systems to provide a wide range of navigation and mission requirements.
 
The Hawk provides basic and advanced training at Kauhava Air Base for pilots destined for the F-18C and F-18D equipped front-line squadrons. The contract covers the adaptation of CMC’s’ Cockpit 4000 integrated avionics suite for the Hawk M66 trainer aircraft. The upgrade aims to further increase the quality of flight training, by improving the Hawk jet trainers’ training efficiency and extending the training that is currently carried out on Hawk aircraft.