Sea Hawk Mk.50 (France)

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

◘Sea Hawk Mk.50

◘Sea Hawk Mk.50

France

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.0	8.0	8.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Fighter

Jet fighter

Naval aircraft

Purchase:8 560

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 premium rank V French jet fighter at with a battle rating of 8.0 (AB/RB/SB). It's a sturdy 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

Arrestor gear

Accelerates braking by grabbing the brake cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier

Air brakes

Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps

Max speed

at 0 m933 km/h

Turn time26 s

Max altitude13 500 m

EngineRolls-Royce Nene-Mk.103

Type

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight7 t

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. Overall the plane is a very stable platform, aiming is very easy and it is pleasant to fly.

Characteristics	Max speed (km/h at _,___ m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	919	898	13500	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	+	-
1012	370	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	Basic 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 Gross 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%/WEP)
Condition	100%	100%/WEP	10m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	35m fuel	MGW
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

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural1 012 km/h

Gear370 km/h

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

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB2 218

RB6 517

SB8 519

Crew training10 000

Experts620 000

Aces2 000

Research Aces1 660 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 130 / 380 / 600 %

2 × 208 / 208 / 208 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Compressor Airframe New boosters Wings repair G-suit Cover Engine EFS		hispano_belt_pack 500 LB 25 lb A.P. Mark II hispano_mk5_new_gun 4 500 LB 60 lb S.A.P. Mark I 1000 LB AIM-9B

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Sea Hawk Mk.50 (France) is armed with:

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

Suspended armament

Describe the aircraft's suspended armament: additional cannons under the wings, bombs, rockets and torpedoes. This section is especially important for bombers and attackers. If there is no suspended weaponry remove this subsection.

Default weapon presets
Without load 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles 10 x AP Mk II rockets 30 x AP Mk II rockets 8 x RP-3 rockets 16 x RP-3 rockets 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)

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the aircraft, the features of using aircraft in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

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. This is especially important in uptiers when everything you face will be either faster than you, able to turn better than you, or can climb better than you. Or, potentially, all three.

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 in 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. By climbing to ~3000km after gaining speed at the start of the game, you can often pick off enemies as they exit the furball or engage your allies, then track them and wait for them to bleed their speed before hitting them with a missile.

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

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 decrease plane 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

Towards the middle of the 1950s, the Royal Netherlands Navy was awarethat its Sea Furies were becoming increasingly obsolete, and a search was started for a successor. After a number of US and British naval fighters were evaluated, preference went out towards the Hawker Sea Hawk, which was at the time entering service with Britain's Royal Navy and could be operated from the Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman, Netherland's Colossus-Class aircraft carrier.

Even though the Royal Netherlands Navy's preference towards the type became known as early as December 1955, budget and permission issues delayed the size and timing of the purchase. Originally an order of 30 aircraft was considered, but it wasn't until September of 1956 that a financial agreement was struck with the United States under the Mutual Defence Assistance Program for order of 22 Sea Hawks built by Armstrong Whitworth at their Coventry factory. These aircraft, known as the FGA.Mk.50 variant, would be based on the Royal Navy's own FGA.Mk.6 variant, but equipped with an American UHF radio system, built under license by Philips at Eindhoven.

Deliveries of the Sea Hawks, registered 6-50 to 6-71, started in July of 1957 and continued until February of 1958, with aircraft being delivered to the Royal Netherlands Navy's Nos. 3 (conversion) and 860 Squadron at Valkenburg. As the Dutch carrier Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman was still being converted to an angled deck configuration, the first year saw the Dutch Sea Hawks mainly being flown from the Valkenburg air base, with occasional deployments to British aircraft carriers for deck landing practices. During this time, one Sea Hawk (6-53) was written off in an accident on November 6th 1957.

Following a conversion which had lasted nearly three years, the Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman was handed back to the Dutch Navy on May 28th 1958. Following a number of shake-down and flying trials in September which involved Sea Hawks and Sea Venoms of the Royal Navy as well as Avengers of the Royal Netherlands Navy, the first deck landing of a Dutch Sea Hawk of 860 Squadron was made aboard the Karel Doorman on October 11th. Around the same time, a display team, "The Sea Lords", was formed on the type.

From January to May of 1959, the Karel Doorman was deployed to the Dutch West Indies, with enroute visits to the Azores, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, Curaçao, Guantanamo and the Bermudas; during this trip, 860 Squadron's Sea Hawks were the first jet-powered aircraft to land at Curaçao. On their return in the Netherlands, 860 Squadron's Sea Hawks received an important upgrade: they were fitted with Philco-Ford GAR-6 Sidewinder 1A (AIM-9B) air-to-air missiles, the first fighter aircraft within the NATO's air forces to receive this weapon.

1959 also saw the Karel Doorman and its Sea Hawks involved in a number of NATO exercises, these being 'Fairwind IV' (a May-June 1959 deployment and joint exercise with the Royal Navy Home Fleet); 'Shoptalk' (September 1959, involving a cruise to Hamburg and back); and 'Sharp Squall 4' (October-November 1959, involving several calls in Norwegian ports). During 'Shoptalk', on September 30th 1959, the Royal Netherlands Navy suffered its second Sea Hawk loss when 6-61 was lost overboard during a failed catapult launch, unfortunately killing its pilot.

During 1960, rising tensions between the Netherlands and Indonesia over the Dutch New Guineas saw the Karel Doorman and its Sea Hawks deployed both as a show of force, and to deliver a dozen of Hawker Hunter F.4s to bolster the local air defences. Following its departure from the Netherlands in May of 1960, the carrier travelled via the Canary Islands; Mauritius and Fremantle, Australia to the Dutch New Guineas, arriving at Hollandia early in August 1960. During the journey between Mauritius and Fremantle, on July 8th, Seahawk 126 (ex 6-66) was lost overboard during a failed landing. Following the delivery of the Hunters at Biak, the Karel Doorman remained in the Dutch New Guineas until the end of September 1960 before returning to the Netherlands. Following visits to French Noumea; Sydney, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; Easter Island; the Juan Fernandez archipelago; Val Paraíso, Chile; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the Karel Doorman and its Sea Hawks arrived back at Rotterdam towards the end of December, 1960.

A change of priorities within NATO saw the role of the Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman substantially changed, and with it that of its Sea Hawks: given the increased obsolescence of the Hawker Sea Hawk as a naval fighter-bomber, and the Colossus-class relative small size which made it unsuitable for more modern, supersonic naval aircraft, a decision was made to redesignate the Karel Doorman as an Anti-Submarine Warfare carrier, and replace its air wing with types more suited to ASW warfare (Grumman S2F-1 Trackers patrol aircraft and Sikorsky HSS-1 Seabat helicopters). This reform saw the Royal Netherlands Navy's Sea Hawks relocated to the Valkenburg naval air base in early 1961, where most aircraft were put into storage. For the next three years the Dutch Sea Hawks would see increasingly fewer flights, with the fourth and last Sea Hawk accident in Dutch service occuring on March 9th 1962 (Sea Hawk 125/ex 6-65); in October 1963 a first batch of 6 Sea Hawks was struck of charge and reduced to spares for the remaining fleet. Following a last display of the "Sea Lords" display team at the Eelde Air Show in July of 1964, the last Sea Hawks were withdrawn from Dutch naval service on October 24th 1964.

Following the withdrawal of the Sea Hawk from Dutch naval service, the surviving 12 aircraft were sold for scrap. Currently, two Sea Hawks are on display in the Netherlands, however these are former Royal Navy aircraft which were acquired for display purposes in the 1980s; former Royal Navy Sea Hawk FGA.6 WV828 is on display at the De Kooy naval air base's museum in the colours of Royal Netherlands Navy aircraft 118 (ex 6-58 - real one parted out for spares in October 1963); while the Nationaal Militair Museum at Soesterberg has an aircraft in the colours of Royal Netherlands Navy aircraft 131 (ex 6-71 - real one withdrawn from use and scrapped in October 1964); it is a composite of two different airframes, consisting of the front fuselage of Sea Hawk FB.5 WM983, with the tail of Sea Hawk FB.5 XE489.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.