Sea Hawk Mk.50

This page is about the French premium jet fighter Sea Hawk Mk.50. For the standard British version, see Sea Hawk FGA.6.

Description

The Netherlands placed an order in the mid-1950s for 30 aircraft, as the Sea Hawk Mk 50, a ground-attack variant for the Royal Netherlands Navy, which was financed by NATO funding. The Mk 50 was externally similar to the Royal Navy aircraft, differing in its use of a Philips-built ultra high frequency (UHF) radio; Dutch Sea Hawks were later equipped to each carry a pair of AIM-9 Sidewinder infrared-guided air-to-air missiles. Between 1957 and 1964, the Dutch Navy operated 22 aircraft.

Introduced as Golden Eagles purchase in Update "Dance of Dragons", the Sea Hawk Mk.50 is a mighty ground attacker, but also a capable air-to-air fighter. Though not as fast and sleek as other conventional fighters, in the hands of the right pilot, this aircraft can be critical to turning the tide in a match. Though hindered by the straight wings and Rolls-Royce Nene engine, compared to other contemporary aircraft, especially the swept-wing MiGs, the Mk.100 can hold its own in air combat. Though attempting to dogfight with rockets and bombs suspended from the aircraft is unwise, going for the more streamlined approach of just adding two AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles will bring the Mk.50 into contender status. Care is a must when firing a Sidewinder as there is potential for it to latch its targeting system onto friendly aircraft or even the sun. The four autocannons can make short work of other fighters and even bombers when targeting critical components such as engines, cockpit and fuel tanks.

General info

Flight performance

The Sea Hawk Mk.50 is a carrier-based fighter. Its powerplant is the Rolls-Royce Nene Mk.103 engine, which gives it quite decent thrust to weight ratio of 0.40 with full fuel tanks. The plane is not that fast, at sea level it can reach only up to 933 km/h and can struggle to keep up with some planes like the F9F-5 or the Yak-30 that can reach 1025 km/h at that altitude. If the plane carries missiles it gets even lower, decreasing to 899 km/h. The level acceleration is at most mediocre: getting past 850 km/h can be a challenge in most situations, and it will struggle when the enemy decides to just run away. The energy retention can be considered good, but planes like the F2H-2 or La-15 will easily outperform it in this aspect. The other downside to its overall performance is the subpar climb rate; reaching only 32 m/s at sea level with minimum fuel taken. Flying at full power is limited to 15 minutes, after that time will start overheating. Reducing the power to 95% will cool it down instantly if reduced early enough.

The Sea Hawk does not have swept wings, so its high speed performance suffers a lot, but also makes it a very capable dogfighter at low and medium speeds with its main strength being the instantaneous turn rate. However, the energy retention and poor acceleration make it worse in any prolonged fight than a F2H, Yak-30 or MiG-15; after one or two full circles, it will start struggling a lot. When it has some energy to spare the plane can pull even 13G, more than most of its competitors, making it a very dangerous enemy to any plane with swept wings, although it will significantly reduce its speed. The roll rate is quite good at low and medium speeds, it can reach over 125°/s at 500 km/h IAS, but once the plane gains some more speed it decreases to 65°/s at 850 km/h IAS. The plane is equipped with two huge airbrakes in its wings that can help with reducing speed after reaching the low structural limit value or during the landing. The flaps have very high limits, both positions can be used during the combat to further increase its instantaneous turn rate.

In simulator battles after stalling it out above 500 km/h IAS the plane will immediately start spinning, pulling the stick all the way to yourself is not recommended. After reaching 550 km/h it will need some negative pitch trimming to make it stay in level flight. Overall the plane is a very stable platform, aiming is very easy and it is pleasant to fly.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 0 m - sea level)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	919	898		27.0	27.8	25.9	24.4	650
Upgraded	943	933		25.4	26.0	38.8	32.0

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
X	✓	✓	✓	✓	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
		N/A	836	796	~13	~6

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 461	< 600	< 550	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Empty mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
Rolls-Royce Nene-Mk.103		1	4,450 kg		232 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)				Max Takeoff Weight
Weight (each)	Type		10m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	35m fuel
1,000 kg	Centrifugal-flow turbojet		4,866 kg	5,278 kg	5,789 kg	5,995 kg	7,170 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB / SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (100%)
Condition	100%	WEP	10m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	35m fuel	MTOW
Stationary	2,376 kgf	N/A	0.49	0.45	0.41	0.40	0.33
Optimal	2,376 kgf (0 km/h)	N/A	0.49	0.45	0.41	0.40	0.33

Survivability and armour

• 64 mm bulletproof glass - Armoured windscreen
• All fuel tanks and engine in the middle of the fuselage

Modifications and economy

Crew training

Experts

Aces

Research Aces

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

/ /  %

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Modifications

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Sea Hawk Mk.50 is armed with:

• 4 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.V cannons, chin-mounted (200 rpg = 800 total)

Suspended armament

The Sea Hawk Mk.50 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 2 x 500 lb G.P. Mk.IV bombs (1,000 lb total)
• 4 x 500 lb G.P. Mk.IV bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 2 x 1,000 lb M.C. Mk.I bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 30 x AP Mk II rockets
• 16 x RP-3 rockets
• 2 x 500 lb G.P. Mk.IV bombs + 10 x AP Mk II rockets (1,000 lb total)
• 2 x 500 lb G.P. Mk.IV bombs + 30 x AP Mk II rockets (1,000 lb total)
• 2 x 500 lb G.P. Mk.IV bombs + 16 x RP-3 rockets (1,000 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles

Usage in battles

In ground battles, this naval jet aircraft truly shines thanks to the high number of rockets it can carry, plus bombs.

In air battles, this naval jet aircraft is still very deadly thanks to its speed, manoeuvrability and access to the Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, but don't get too confident since other nations have some fighters which get early air spawn and some of them have more powerful engine than the Sea Hawk, so if you want to survive, you need to be aware of your surroundings.

Be careful when using Sidewinder air-to-air missiles as they can also lock on to unintended targets such as the sun or your own teammates.

The best use of the Sidewinders is to force faster jets into manoeuvres so you may catch up to them. Though this may waste a missile, it gives the Sea Hawk the ability to punch far above its weight class. In 9.0 games, the Sea Hawk is relegated to support duty as it is horribly outclassed in speed.

In a down tier, maintain energy dominance over lower battle rating enemies and don't over-commit; any jet can dodge your missile.

If you are using the missiles for a hunter-killer role, wait for your enemy to be at a slower speed (500-600 km/h) before launching. This means that the missile will be incredibly fast relative to your target, and give a much smaller window for them to dodge it at closer ranges.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Extremely high flap breakage speed (850 km/h for take-off, 796 km/h for landing).
• Good selection of suspended armament options.
• Gets air-to-air missiles, unlike the British equivalent Sea Hawk FGA.6.
• Very good for destroying ground vehicles.
• 4 x 20 mm cannons, high rate of fire and good amount of ammunition.
• Maintains effectiveness even at lower speeds (500 km/h).
• Smaller size makes it harder to hit.
• Very stable

Cons:

• Subpar turning energy retention.
• Not so fast in level flight.
• The missile cannot track manoeuvring and fast targets so well.
• The bomb holders greatly decreases planes manoeuvrability.
• Mk II AP rockets are ineffective.
• Completely helpless against faster jets (MiG-15, F-86, F-84G, F-89, etc).
• Engine loses performance at altitudes exceeding 2,500 m.
• Severely punished by radar SPAA.
• Incredibly weak air frame with cramped modules.

History

Already by the end of WW2, Hawker began working on their first jet-propelled aircraft as the new jet propulsion technology became available. As a basis for their new aircraft, they took the Hawker Fury and began adapting it to house a turbojet engine. The project received the designation P.1035.

As work went on, the attention the project garnered initially from the Air Ministry and the Admiralty was rather low and eventually dropped completely, forcing Hawker to continue development of the aircraft under a private venture. During the development process, the initial design of the aircraft underwent significant changes and the resulting version was designated as P.1040.

However, as Hawker's aircraft offered good range, the Navy ordered three prototypes to be built in May 1946 and subsequently put through evaluation. Testing and tweaking of the design continued throughout the late 1940s until the first production orders for the aircraft, dubbed Sea Hawk, were received in November 1949.

The first Sea Hawks entered service with the FAA in 1953, with the remaining over 500 machines entering service by the mid-1950s. The Sea Hawk's service life is primarily marked by their extensive use during the Suez Crisis in the late 1950s, where they successfully proved themselves.

As one of the last modifications of the type, the Sea Hawk FGA.6 was developed to incorporate changes from the previous FB.3 and FGA.4 ground attack variants and combine them with the new Rolls-Royce Nene Mk.103 engine which provided a greater power output.

In the early 1960s, the British Navy almost completely abandoned the use of Sea Hawk and a handful of other vehicles being used in a limited number of secondary roles until the end of the decade. However, the aircraft was still in service by some countries like West Germany, the Netherlands and India. In fact, India continued to operate Sea Hawks well into the 1980s.

- From Devblog

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Sea Hawk Mk.50 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

Premium Vehicles: Sea Hawk Mk.100 - War Thunder Wiki

Best naval fighters discusses the Sea Hawk Mk.50 at 3:03 - War Thunder Official Channel

See also

Contemporary Aircraft

• De Havilland Vampire FB 5
• F-84 Thunderjet
• F2H Banshee
• Gloster Meteor
• MiG-15
• MiG-17
• Supermarine Attacker FB 1
• Dassault M.D.450B Ouragan

External links

• [Devblog] Sea Hawk FGA.6: Jet Vulture
• Official data sheet - more details about the performance