BAC Strikemaster

The BAC Strikemaster Story

At the heart of the Strikemaster is a jet-powered training platform with an inherent light ground attack facility as its auxiliary aircraft. This attracts many budget buyers around the world, who can upgrade specialized pilot trainers to low-level counterinsurgency roles if desired.

As a result, during the Cold War years, the Strikemaster family line had a long lifespan and even saw direct combat action in the hands of a few operators. Sudan became the last known frontline fighter of its kind, while others experienced extended lives in private hands.

At the time of writing, fewer than a dozen aircraft are considered airworthy due to structural problems with the wings, a setback that plagued the series and forced its early retirement.

The Strikemaster has its origins in the Percival Provost, a single-engine piston-powered monoplane manufactured by the Percival Corporation, the military instructor for several of the world's air forces. About 461 prototypes of this type were delivered from 1953 and remained in service until 1969. Since the Percival Provost's design was a tried and tested product, attention quickly focused on converting the aircraft into a jet-powered stand. This move gave birth to the "Hunting Jet Provost (JP)", which installed Armstrong Siddeley Viper Mk 202 turbojets on its fuselage. The model first flew in 1954, entered service the following year, and remained in service until 1993, with 741 built.

Some of these men are armed in their military camouflage and take on light ground attack roles.

Jet Provost was originally manufactured on a quantitative scale when the Jet Provost T. 3 production brand was introduced. The T.4 followed in 1961 and introduced the much-needed side-by-side ejection seat system, as well as compliant wingtip fuel tanks.

The final T.5 brand appeared in 1967 and featured a larger pressurized cockpit in an elongated nose. The T51, T52, T55 brands were all successful arms export brands, paving the way for a greatly improved militarized form of the "BAC Strikemaster".

The Percival Aircraft Company, which was renamed Hunting Percival Aircraft in 1954, was renamed Hunting Aircraft in 1957 and merged with Bristol, English Electric and Vickers-Armstrong in 1959 to form the British Aircraft Corporation - otherwise abbreviated as BAC (BAC itself became a 1999 Later British Aerospace (now BAe Systems).

Armed Jet Provost T. 5 as the starting point for the new BAC 167 Strikemaster. Key differences include the incorporation of more powerful Rolls-Royce Viper series turbojets for improved performance. Four underwing attachment points were added for external fuel and ammunition, and her internal structure was strengthened to accommodate the rigors of military service. The first Strikemaster prototype flew for the first time in October 1967 and went into series production the following year as the "Strikemaster Mk 80", clearing all development hurdles.

The Strikemaster series continued to have moderate success in the export market, although the British did not field any of them themselves.

From the looks of it, the Strikemaster is a very traditional form. The streamlined fuselage manages all critical internal components, including the cockpit, avionics, fuel storage and engine installation. The cockpit is designed very forward to improve the visibility of the two pilots. The nose assembly is short and sloped down, away from the cockpit windshield.

The cockpit canopy is designed with a lightweight frame to further aid visibility. The spine of the fuselage is raised at the rear of the cockpit, obscuring the view of the absolute rear of the aircraft.

The single engine is buried deep in the fuselage, which tapers to the rear to enclose the engine's exhaust ring. The engine is drawn in by two flat, smaller crescent-shaped air intakes flanking the cockpit.

The camber angles created by these arrangements also serve as the root of the main wing, which is straight along its leading edge and sloped forward along its trailing edge. Conformal fuel tank pods are mounted on the wingtips, and the hardpoints on the underside of each wing are punctured to carry ammunition. The rear wing is a traditional design, with a straight vertical rear wing and a pair of horizontal rear wings to complete the look. The landing gear is simple, consisting of a single-wheeled nose gear leg under the nose and two single-wheeled main legs under each wing.

The legs are designed to be short, providing a very flat ground attitude for the stationary aircraft. To some extent, this limits the options for transporting such ordnance along the centerline of the hull, but makes the handling of such ordnance more acceptable.

Basics of the Strikemaster include a wingspan of 36.9 feet, a length of 33.7 feet, and a height of 10.10 feet. She has a curb weight of nearly 6,200 pounds and a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 11,500 pounds.

Powered by a Rolls-Royce Viper Mk 535 series turbojet engine, it has a top speed of 480 mph, a range of 1,382 miles, a service ceiling of 40,000 feet and a rate of climb of 5,250 feet per minute.

In addition to training abilities, the Strikemaster can also be armed with a variety of light artillery pieces. 2 x 7.62mm FN internal machine guns are fitted as standard, while up to 3,000 lbs of external storage can be carried under the wings. These ammunition may include 7.62mm machine gun casings, 20mm cannon casings, air-to-surface unguided high-explosive rocket casings, light conventional throwing bombs and napalm. Combat range can be increased by carrying 2 external drop tanks in place of some of the underwing weapons.

For bomb training purposes, the Strikemaster can be equipped to train bombs.

Strikemaster production spanned from 1967 to 1984, with approximately 146 prototypes eventually delivered. Ultimately, two main production types emerged, including the original "Strikemaster 80" series and the follow-up "Strikemaster 90", with 136 and 10 produced respectively.

Operators, including Botswana, Ecuador, Kenya, Kuwait, New Zealand, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Yemen and Sudan, were assigned specific names to reflect customers.

Strikemaster Mk 80 consisted of 25 aircraft destined for Saudi Arabia, followed by 20 as Strikemaster Mk 80A. Four Strikemaster Mk 81s were sent to southern Yemen. A dozen Strikemaster Mk 82s were delivered to Oman, followed by 12 other Strikemaster Mk 82A models. Kuwait received 12 Strikemaster Mk 83s and Singapore received 16 Strikemaster Mk 84s. Kenya received six Strikemaster Mk 87s.

New Zealand stockpiles 16 Strikemaster Mk 88s, affectionately known as "Blunty". 22 Strikemaster Mk 89s went to Ecuador, followed by a few Strikemaster Mk 89As.

Sudan became Strikemaster's last customer, receiving its last airframe in 1984 and operating the model into the new millennium as the Strikemaster Mk 90 - although only three aircraft were considered "airworthy" at the time.

In the 1970s, a more powerful Rolls-Royce Viper turbojet engine was considered to retrofit the Strikemaster, but the venture fell through.

In practice, Strikemaster has proven itself in the hands of exporters. Its relatively low acquisition cost ensures that it can be stockpiled for several developing air forces around the world. The Strikemaster exudes strong field quality and low-level good handling. It can operate from temporary airfields if necessary, serving dual purposes in both pilot training and light attack. During the Dhofar rebellion (1962-1975), Oman deployed strike masters against the "liberation" front, resulting in a coalition (along with Britain, Iran and Jordan) defeating the insurgents.

Other notable operations put the Strikemaster into combat duty in Ecuador, where the aircraft was used against Peruvian targets.

As such, the Strikemaster family tree has a reputation for decades of service. The aircraft was forced into limited service and eventually retired until structural fatigue cracks were discovered on the wings of Strikemasters in New Zealand. Fatigue problems have led to several accidents, including a civilian Strikemaster crash on October 5, 2006, which killed two passengers.

The crash was due to the right wing assembly separating from the fuselage due to cracking.

Today, most Strikemasters have been flown in civilian hands or in museum custody, and few, if any, are flown by active duty military personnel.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes