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CAPE TOWN JETS: Strikemaster
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"The
obvious appeal of the Jet Provost as a highly developed and economical
trainer prompted BAC to do what Hunting, the company that had originated
the design, had lacked the funds to achieve: development of the type
into a multi-role tactical aircraft able to fly both pilot training
and weapon training sorties, and also, should the occasion demand, go
to war in the light attack and tactical reconnaissance roles. Via the
BAC.145, sold to the Sudan as virtually an armed version of the pressurized
Jet Provost T.Mk 5, BAC developed the BAC.167 Strikemaster by installing
a more powerful version of the Viper engine and increasing the number
of stores hardpoints to eight. The airframe had been strengthened several
times in the course of the development of the Jet Provost and BAC.145,
and in the BAC.167 it was locally reinforced yet again to make it virtually
unbreakable in tactical use under even the harshest conditions.
Features
include short landing gear units for operation from rough airstrips,
fuel housed in integral and bag tanks in the wings and in fixed tip
tanks, hydraulically operated spoiler/airbrake surfaces above the wings,
manual flight controls, a pressurized and air-conditioned cockpit with
a side-by-side pair of Martin-Baker Mk PB4 ejector seats, and comprehensive
navigation and communications equipment which some customers have upgraded
to include EW (electronic warfare) installations.
The
first Strikemaster flew in October 1967 and the Strikemaster Mk 80 series
entered service a year later. Customers include Ecuador, Kenya, Kuwait,
New Zealand, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sudan and South Yemen. The
final batch of new Strikemaster Mk 90 aircraft were delivered to the
Sudan in 1984, assembly of this batch having been relocated from Warton
to Hurn. Many of the Strikemasters have seen prolonged active service:
for example, all 20 of the Sultan of Oman's Strikemaster Mk 82 and Mk
82A aircraft have sustained battle damage. The Strikemaster has a reputation
for almost Russian toughness and longevity under the most austere of
circumstances, and most still have a useful career ahead of them."
(The Encyclopedia of Modern Warplanes; The Development and Specifications
of all Active Military Aircraft; Bill Gunston; ©1995 Aerospace
Publishing Limited)
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