Its the 1st March 2022 and the sea fog is rolling in off the English channel, on a quiet corner of RNAS Culdrose lies the hangar of 736 Naval Air Squadron (NAS). Their Hawk T1’s stood poised ready emerge and disappear in the fog as the wind gusts in from the coast. By the end of the month this will all be a thing of the
The Hawk T.1 first flew on the 21st August 1974, replacing the Gnat and Jet Provost in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). Capable of flying at Mach 0.88 at 50,000ft, they were used by the RAF for 40 years in the fast jet training role. Additionally they were also used in the aggressor role with 100 Squadron at RAF Leeming, the RAF Aerobatics Team, The Red Arrows, at RAF Kemble and RAF Scampton and the Empire Test Pilots’ School and RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine at MOD Boscombe Down. First entering RN Service in 1994, they took over the duties of the ageing Hawker Hunters of the Fleet Requirements and Air Direction Unit (FRADU) in 1995. In the same year it was announced that the unit would be calling RNAS Culdrose home and by Christmas FRADU was fully operational from HMS Seahawk, the base that they would call home for the next 27 years. The move to Culdrose allowed for shorter transit times to the training area in the English Channel and Dartmoor. However, Yeovilton wouldn’t see the end of Hawk Operations just yet.
The Hawk T.1 first flew on the 21st August 1974, replacing the Gnat and Jet Provost in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). Capable of flying at Mach 0.88 at 50,000ft, they were used by the RAF for 40 years in the fast jet training role. Additionally they were also used in the aggressor role with 100 Squadron at RAF Leeming, the RAF Aerobatics Team, The Red Arrows, at RAF Kemble and RAF Scampton and the Empire Test Pilots’ School and RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine at MOD Boscombe Down. First entering RN Service in 1994, they took over the duties of the ageing Hawker Hunters of the Fleet Requirements and Air Direction Unit (FRADU) in 1995. In the same year it was announced that the unit would be calling RNAS Culdrose home and by Christmas FRADU was fully operational from HMS Seahawk, the base that they would call home for the next 27 years. The move to Culdrose allowed for shorter transit times to the training area in the English Channel and Dartmoor. However, Yeovilton wouldn’t see the end of Hawk Operations just yet.
736 NAS has a strong background of fixed wing naval aviation, forming up in 1943 at RNAS Yeovilton and initially flying Supermarine Seafires operating as a tactics training unit. A move to RNAS Lossiemouth in the early 1950s saw the squadron move on to de Havilland Sea Vampires and Hawker Sea Hawks after a brief spell at RNAS Culdrose, operating Supermarine Attackers and Gloster Meteor T.7s. Although their time at Culdrose was short and distant the ties were still strong until the end. At the forming up of the squadron as a Hawk T.1 unit in 2013 the then Squadron Commander said; “736 has a long tradition of operating fixed wing aircraft, and it has previously been based here at Culdrose, so it was quite a straight forward decision to renumber the unit as 736”. The squadron remained at Lossiemouth until the its disbandment in 1972, during this time it performed a number of roles with a number of aircraft types including Supermarine Scimitars supporting the frontline squadrons on base and Blackburn Buccaneers in an operational conversion role, teaching naval aviators how to fly and fight the Buccaneer.
With the weather improving in the early afternoon the pilots walk to their jets. Two jets depart on task into the murky skies of the south west. Tasking for 736 NAS is broken down into several different disciplines. Air Defence aggressor training, Fighter Controller training, Helicopter Affiliation Training, and Close Air Support training. Air Defence aggressor training, the primary role of FRADU and 736 NAS is what the Culdrose based Hawks are best known for. “The role 736 NAS undertakes is extremely specialised and not something taught at an Operation Conversation Unit or that can be learnt from books and manuals” said Lieutenant Commander Barry Issit previous OC 736 NAS. Operating alongside Dassault Falcon 20s operated by Draken Europe, previously known as Cobham Aviation Services and before that Flight Refuelling Aviation based out of Bournemouth Airport, the Hawks have a similar radar profile to an enemy anti-ship missile such as the French made Exocet. Dropping down to near wave top height at speeds of 450kts the Hawks are testing the ship’s defensive systems and the ship’s company reactions to an incoming threat.
As can be seen in the photos below, it’s fair to say that uniformity hasn’t been a strong point with FRADU or 736 NAS. With a variety of liveries seen over the years, a large number of Hawks on strength with FRADU in 2009 were painted up in a commemorative scheme celebrating the 100 years of naval aviation. Over the years as maintenance was performed on these jets they slowly started to lose parts of their special schemes, however one jet, XX281, still sported a revised scheme until the squadron’s last flight.
A very rare sight on the airshow circuit between 2001 and 2009 was the Black Seahawks Display Team, which was fielded by FRADU in partnership with FR Aviation. A dissimilar pairing of two Dassault Falcon 20s and four Hawks won the King Hussain Memorial Sword for Best Overall Flying Display at the 2007’s Royal International Air Tattoo, an award which has subsequently been won by the likes of Republic of Korea Air Force Black Eagles Display team and the Swedish Air Force Saab JAS 39C Gripen. The display consisted of a number of formation passes before splitting into two sections detailing each aircraft type. Sadly after 2009 the display was cut due to budget restraints.
In January 2021 plans were revealed for the RAF’s 100 Squadron to take on the maritime aggressor role, allowing for 736NAS to be disbanded on 30th September 2021. Three months later the defence command paper entitled ‘Defence in a Competitive Age” stated that “the Royal Air Force retire equipment that has limited utility in the digital and future operating environment. This will include retiring Typhoon tranche 1 by 2025 and Hawk T.1.”
The future of the Fleet Air Arm’s maritime aggressor role looks very different to anything seen so far, and also very different to the future of the RAF’s red air plans. Whereas the RAF is looking to contract out the role previously conducted by 100 Sqn, to one of the many defence contractors who operate a wide range of former military fast jets, the Fleet Air Arm have instead looked forward and paired up with QinetiQ to deliver project Vampire. Trials of the QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80+ has already taken place operating off the deck of HMS Prince of Wales in the Hebrides range off the northwest coast of Scotland. The change from an aging unarmed jet trainer to a state of the art low cost drone is huge, and will allow both embarked aircraft and ships companies to train in air defence anywhere in the world, even whilst deployed. As Commander Rob Taylor RN, Royal Navy Air Test and Evaluation explained . “the key to this is that a warship can carry this drone with it on operations, launch it and use it to keep personnel razor-sharp in countering threats from above.”
South West Aviation Photographers would like to thank 736 NAS and RNAS Culdrose for making this article possible
Report by Matt Sudol, Kev Slade and Gary Morris
© South West Aviation Photographers 2022