{"id":32096666,"date":"2026-11-10T10:30:06","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T09:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/hawker-sea-hawk-navy-jet-fighter-suez-indian-navy-history\/"},"modified":"2026-11-10T10:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T09:31:10","slug":"hawker-sea-hawk-navy-jet-fighter-suez-indian-navy-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/hawker-sea-hawk-navy-jet-fighter-suez-indian-navy-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawker Sea Hawk: The Navy Jet That Fought From Suez to 1971"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\r\n\r\n<style>\r\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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It was a <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/sea-hawk\/\">Hawker Sea Hawk<\/a>, and for the next few days it and its sister squadrons would do most of Britain&rsquo;s close-in ground attack work in the Suez campaign.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Sea Hawk was never the fastest jet of its day. It had straight wings when swept wings were becoming the fashion, and a centrifugal-flow engine when that technology was already a dead end. Yet it was so well behaved, so sturdy and so easy to land on a pitching deck that it outlived its more glamorous contemporaries and fought its last war in 1971, half a world away, in Indian hands.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>This is the story of Hawker&rsquo;s first jet: the aircraft that turned the company from piston fighters to jets, and pointed the way to the Hunter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6f9;border:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 26px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Type:<\/strong> Single-seat carrier-based jet fighter and fighter-bomber<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Manufacturer:<\/strong> Hawker; most built by Armstrong Whitworth, Coventry<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>First flight:<\/strong> 2 September 1947 (P.1040 prototype VP401)<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Engine:<\/strong> One Rolls-Royce Nene, about 5,000 to 5,200 lb thrust<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Top speed:<\/strong> About 600 mph<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Armament:<\/strong> Four 20 mm Hispano cannon, plus bombs and rockets on later versions<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Built:<\/strong> More than 500<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Operators:<\/strong> Royal Navy, West Germany, the Netherlands, India<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Combat:<\/strong> Suez 1956; Indo-Pakistani wars of 1965 and 1971<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Retired:<\/strong> 1983, Indian Navy<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">From Fury to &ldquo;trouser legs&rdquo;<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Hawker came late to jets. Until late 1944 its design office under Sydney Camm was busy with the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/hawker-hurricane\/\">Hurricane<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/hawker-typhoon\/\">Typhoon<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/hawker-tempest\/\">Tempest<\/a>. In November 1944 Camm&rsquo;s team proposed the P.1035: essentially the Fury fighter, the land-based sibling of the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/hawker-sea-fury\/\">Sea Fury<\/a>, with its piston engine removed and a Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet installed in the middle of the fuselage.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Within a month the design had changed in one clever way. Instead of a long tailpipe, the P.1040 split the exhaust into two short pipes emerging from the wing roots, quickly nicknamed the &ldquo;trouser legs&rdquo;. The short jet pipes reduced thrust losses, the intakes moved into the thickened wing roots, and the space freed in the rear fuselage held fuel. With tanks fore and aft of the engine, the centre of gravity barely moved as fuel burned, and the aircraft had more range than many early jets.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/sea-hawk-f1-898-naval-air-squadron-1954.jpg\" alt=\"Five Royal Navy Hawker Sea Hawk F1 jet fighters of 898 Naval Air Squadron flying in formation in 1954\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Sea Hawk F1s of 898 Naval Air Squadron in 1954, the year after the type entered front-line service. Royal Navy official photograph \/ public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>It was also the first Hawker design with a nosewheel. The Royal Air Force lost interest after the war, reportedly because the design offered too little over the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/gloster-meteor\/\">Gloster Meteors<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/de-havilland-vampire\/\">de Havilland Vampires<\/a> already in service, so in January 1946 Hawker offered the design to the Royal Navy. In May 1946 the Admiralty ordered prototypes to specification N.7\/46.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The first prototype, VP401, flew from Boscombe Down on 2 September 1947 with Bill Humble at the controls. The navalised second prototype had folding wings and an arrester hook, and carrier trials aboard HMS <em>Illustrious<\/em> in 1949 led to a longer wingspan and a longer hook. On 22 November 1949 the Royal Navy ordered 151 production aircraft, now named Sea Hawk.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tnVhWbGtZzI\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">A Short History of the Hawker Sea Hawk, from the P.1040 prototype to the last Indian Navy aircraft.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Super-priority and a Coventry production line<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The Korean War suddenly made carrier aircraft urgent. In 1951 Winston Churchill&rsquo;s government gave the Sea Hawk &ldquo;super-priority&rdquo; status to speed production. Because Hawker was also developing the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/hawker-hunter\/\">Hunter<\/a>, only 35 F1s were built at Kingston before the line moved to Armstrong Whitworth in Coventry. The first production Sea Hawk F1 flew on 14 November 1951, and 806 Naval Air Squadron received the first operational aircraft in 1953.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The basic recipe never changed much. A single Nene of about 5,000 pounds of thrust, later 5,200 in the Nene 103, gave a top speed of around 600 mph. Armament was four 20 mm Hispano cannon. What did change was the job. The F2 added powered ailerons to cure a tendency to aileron oscillation, then the FB3, FGA4, FB5 and FGA6 turned the fighter into a fighter-bomber able to carry bombs, rockets and drop tanks.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Suez: the Sea Hawk&rsquo;s war<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Operation Musketeer, the Anglo-French intervention at Suez, began on 31 October 1956. The Royal Navy brought six Sea Hawk squadrons: two aboard the fleet carrier HMS <em>Eagle<\/em> and two each on the light carriers HMS <em>Albion<\/em> and HMS <em>Bulwark<\/em>. RAF Hunters based in Cyprus did not have the range for the job, so the Sea Hawks, with Westland Wyverns and escorted by Sea Venoms, became Britain&rsquo;s strike force over the Canal Zone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>They attacked airfields, vehicles, railways and anti-aircraft positions, often through heavy flak. Several came back badly damaged, and according to the Thunder &amp; Lightnings history of the type, two were lost to ground fire. Our story <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/suez-1956-operation-musketeer-air-war-sea-hawk-canberra\/\">The Last Old-Fashioned Air War<\/a> covers the whole campaign.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/sea-hawk-899-nas-hms-eagle-catapult-suez-1956.jpg\" alt=\"A rocket-armed Royal Navy Sea Hawk of 899 Naval Air Squadron about to be catapulted from HMS Eagle during the Suez operation in 1956\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A rocket-armed Sea Hawk FGA6 of 899 Naval Air Squadron about to be launched from HMS <em>Eagle<\/em> for a strike on an Egyptian airfield, November 1956. Royal Navy official photograph \/ public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Suez was the Sea Hawk&rsquo;s first and last combat with the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/fleet-air-arm\/\">Fleet Air Arm<\/a>. In 1958 the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/supermarine-scimitar\/\">Supermarine Scimitar<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/de-havilland-sea-vixen\/\">de Havilland Sea Vixen<\/a> began replacing it, and on 15 December 1960 the last front-line squadron, 806 NAS, disbanded at Brawdy. Civilian-operated Sea Hawks kept flying as fleet requirements aircraft until 1969.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xOTO2jU4C3M\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Archive footage of Royal Navy Sea Hawk operations in the 1950s.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A second career abroad<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Retirement in Britain was only half the story. In the mid-1950s West Germany bought 64 Sea Hawks for its new navy, half of them Mk 100 day fighters and half Mk 101s with a search radar pod under one wing, both with a taller fin. They served with <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/german-naval-aviation\/\">German Naval Aviation<\/a> until the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-104-starfighter\/\">F-104 Starfighter<\/a> replaced them in the mid-1960s.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/sea-hawk-mk100-german-navy-vb134.jpg\" alt=\"A preserved Hawker Sea Hawk Mk 100 in West German Navy markings with the code VB+134, parked on grass\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Sea Hawk in West German Navy markings, coded VB+134, at the Aeronauticum museum in Nordholz. Germany bought 64 Sea Hawks for its new navy. Photo: Smolik \/ CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The Netherlands took 22 Mk 50s for its naval air service, paid for with NATO funds and later armed with Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. They flew from the carrier HNLMS <em>Karel Doorman<\/em> before moving ashore, and the last were withdrawn in October 1964.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>India became the last and most loyal operator. From 1960 its Sea Hawks flew from INS <em>Vikrant<\/em>, and the fleet grew with refurbished British and ex-German airframes. In the 1971 war <em>Vikrant<\/em>&rsquo;s Sea Hawks struck ports and shipping in what was then East Pakistan. Indian accounts credit them with sinking or disabling numerous vessels without losing an aircraft. The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/indian-naval-air-arm\/\">Indian Navy<\/a> finally retired the type in 1983, replacing it with the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/harrier-jump-jet\/\">Sea Harrier<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/indian-navy-sea-hawks-1971-war.jpg\" alt=\"A line of Indian Navy Hawker Sea Hawk jets parked with their wings folded during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Indian Navy Sea Hawks with wings folded during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war, when they flew from INS <em>Vikrant<\/em>. Indian Navy photo \/ GODL-India, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">WV908 and the survivors<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>More than 500 Sea Hawks were built, and dozens survive in museums in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Malta and India. The most famous is WV908, built at Coventry in 1954 as an FGA4 and later converted to FGA6. Restored by volunteers at Culdrose, it joined the Royal Navy Historic Flight at <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-bases\/yeovilton\/\">Yeovilton<\/a> in 1982 and last displayed in 2010.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>In June 2022 the charity Navy Wings announced it would stop work on its grounded Sea Vixen and return WV908 to flight instead.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;We have now commissioned a full survey of the work required and in broad terms, it will cost about 10% of the funds that would be required to return the Sea Vixen to flight.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Navy Wings<\/strong> &mdash; Statement announcing the restoration of Sea Hawk WV908, June 2022<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kAOQS92Vseo\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">A Royal Navy Historic Flight Sea Hawk display, set to music.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Sea Hawk never broke a speed record or won a dogfight that history remembers. What it did was teach Hawker how to build jets, give the Royal Navy a reliable strike aircraft at its moment of need, and serve three more navies after Britain had moved on. For a straight-winged aeroplane with trouser-leg exhausts, that is not a bad epitaph.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Wikipedia (Hawker Sea Hawk), Thunder &amp; Lightnings, Navy Wings via Vintage Aviation News and European Airshows, Australian Aviation<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\r\n\r\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What was the Hawker Sea Hawk?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Hawker Sea Hawk was a British single-seat carrier-based jet fighter and fighter-bomber, and Hawker&rsquo;s first jet aircraft. Developed from the P.1040 prototype that first flew on 2 September 1947, it entered Royal Navy service in 1953 and was also flown by West Germany, the Netherlands and India.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why did the Sea Hawk have split exhausts?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Sea Hawk&rsquo;s Nene engine exhausted through two short jet pipes in the wing roots, nicknamed &ldquo;trouser legs&rdquo;, instead of one long tailpipe. This cut thrust losses and freed the rear fuselage for fuel tanks. With fuel fore and aft of the engine, the centre of gravity stayed stable and the aircraft had good range.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How fast was the Hawker Sea Hawk?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Hawker Sea Hawk had a top speed of about 600 mph. It was powered by a single Rolls-Royce Nene centrifugal-flow turbojet of about 5,000 pounds of thrust, later 5,200 pounds in the Nene 103. Its straight wing kept it subsonic, but made it stable and easy to land on carriers.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What did the Sea Hawk do at Suez?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">During Operation Musketeer in November 1956, six Royal Navy Sea Hawk squadrons flew from HMS Eagle, Albion and Bulwark. With Westland Wyverns they carried out Britain&rsquo;s carrier strikes on Egyptian airfields, vehicles and anti-aircraft positions, because RAF Hunters in Cyprus lacked the range. Several were damaged by ground fire.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Which countries flew the Hawker Sea Hawk?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Hawker Sea Hawk was flown by the Royal Navy, the West German Navy, which bought 64, the Royal Netherlands Navy, which operated 22 Mk 50s, and the Indian Navy. India was the last operator, flying Sea Hawks from INS Vikrant in the 1965 and 1971 wars and retiring them in 1983.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Is there a flying Hawker Sea Hawk?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Sea Hawk FGA6 WV908 flew with the Royal Navy Historic Flight from 1982 and last displayed in 2010. In June 2022 the charity Navy Wings announced it would restore WV908 to flight at Yeovilton, estimating the work would take about two years. Dozens of other Sea Hawks survive in museums.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Can I fly in a de Havilland Vampire?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. MiGFlug offers flights in the de Havilland Vampire, the RAF jet that competed with Hawker&rsquo;s early design, near London in the United Kingdom. A 25-minute flight costs &pound;4,750, and you sit side by side with the pilot. See the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/vampire-flight-near-london\/\">Vampire flight<\/a> page.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Hawker Sea Hawk?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Hawker Sea Hawk was a British single-seat carrier-based jet fighter and fighter-bomber, and Hawker\u2019s first jet aircraft. Developed from the P.1040 prototype that first flew on 2 September 1947, it entered Royal Navy service in 1953 and was also flown by West Germany, the Netherlands and India.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why did the Sea Hawk have split exhausts?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Sea Hawk\u2019s Nene engine exhausted through two short jet pipes in the wing roots, nicknamed \\\"trouser legs\\\", instead of one long tailpipe. This cut thrust losses and freed the rear fuselage for fuel tanks. With fuel fore and aft of the engine, the centre of gravity stayed stable and the aircraft had good range.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How fast was the Hawker Sea Hawk?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Hawker Sea Hawk had a top speed of about 600 mph. It was powered by a single Rolls-Royce Nene centrifugal-flow turbojet of about 5,000 pounds of thrust, later 5,200 pounds in the Nene 103. Its straight wing kept it subsonic, but made it stable and easy to land on carriers.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What did the Sea Hawk do at Suez?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"During Operation Musketeer in November 1956, six Royal Navy Sea Hawk squadrons flew from HMS Eagle, Albion and Bulwark. With Westland Wyverns they carried out Britain\u2019s carrier strikes on Egyptian airfields, vehicles and anti-aircraft positions, because RAF Hunters in Cyprus lacked the range. Several were damaged by ground fire.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Which countries flew the Hawker Sea Hawk?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Hawker Sea Hawk was flown by the Royal Navy, the West German Navy, which bought 64, the Royal Netherlands Navy, which operated 22 Mk 50s, and the Indian Navy. India was the last operator, flying Sea Hawks from INS Vikrant in the 1965 and 1971 wars and retiring them in 1983.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Is there a flying Hawker Sea Hawk?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Sea Hawk FGA6 WV908 flew with the Royal Navy Historic Flight from 1982 and last displayed in 2010. In June 2022 the charity Navy Wings announced it would restore WV908 to flight at Yeovilton, estimating the work would take about two years. Dozens of other Sea Hawks survive in museums.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Can I fly in a de Havilland Vampire?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. MiGFlug offers flights in the de Havilland Vampire, the RAF jet that competed with Hawker\u2019s early design, near London in the United Kingdom. A 25-minute flight costs &pound;4,750, and you sit side by side with the pilot. See the Vampire flight page.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/suez-1956-operation-musketeer-air-war-sea-hawk-canberra\/\">The Last Old-Fashioned Air War<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/hawker-hunter-tower-bridge-1968-alan-pollock-raf-50th-anniversary\/\">Hawker Hunter Tower Bridge Flight: Alan Pollock's 1968 Protest<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/dassault-etendard-iv-french-navy-carrier-strike-jet-history\/\">Dassault \u00c9tendard IV: France's First Carrier Strike Jet<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/hal-hf-24-marut-india-first-indigenous-jet-fighter-kurt-tank-1971\/\">HAL HF-24 Marut: India's First Jet Fighter, Designed by Kurt Tank<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Hawker Sea Hawk was Hawker\u2019s first jet: a straight-winged naval fighter-bomber that struck Egypt at Suez in 1956 and fought for India in 1971.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":32096031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32096666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hawker Sea Hawk: The Navy Jet From Suez to 1971 | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hawker Sea Hawk: Hawker&#039;s first jet, a straight-winged naval fighter-bomber that struck Egypt at 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