McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk

The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) T-45 Goshawk is a highly modified version of the BAE Hawk land-based training jet aircraft. Manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) and British Aerospace (now BAE Systems), the T-45 is used by the United States Navy as an aircraft carrier-capable trainer.

Design and development
The T-45 Goshawk is a fully carrier-capable version of the British Aerospace Hawk Mk.60. It was developed as a jet flight trainer for the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC).

The Goshawk's origins began in the mid-1970s, when the US Navy began looking for replacement for its T-2 and TA-4 trainers. The US Navy started the VTXTS advanced trainer program in 1978. British Aerospace and McDonnell Douglas proposed a version of the Hawk and were awarded the T-45 contract in 1981.



The Hawk had not been designed for carrier operations and numerous modifications were required to make it suitable for use on carriers. These included improvements to the low-speed handling characteristics and a reduction in the approach speed. Other changes were strengthened airframe, more robust and wider landing gear with catapult tow bar attachment and an arresting hook. It features a two-wheel nose landing gear.

The Goshawk first flew in 1988 and became operational in 1991. BAE Systems manufactures the fuselage aft of the cockpit, the air inlets, the vertical stabilizer of the T-45 at Samlesbury, and the wings at Brough, England. Boeing, which merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, manufactures the remainder of the aircraft and assembles them in St. Louis, Missouri, after moving the program from the Long Beach, Ca facility.

On 16 March 2007 the 200th airframe was delivered to the US Navy. All T-45A aircraft will eventually be converted to a T-45C configuration under the T-45 Required Avionics Modernization Program (T-45 RAMP). The final delivery of the 221st aircraft took place in November 2009.

Operational history


The T-45 has been used for intermediate and advanced portions of the Navy/Marine Corps Student Naval Aviator strike pilot training program with Training Air Wing One at Naval Air Station Meridian, Mississippi and Training Air Wing Two at Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas. The T-45 replaced the T-2C Buckeye intermediate jet trainer and the TA-4J Skyhawk II advanced jet trainer with an integrated training system that includes the T-45 Goshawk aircraft, operational and instrument flight simulators (OFT/IFT), academics, and training integration system support. In 2008, the T-45C also began operation in the advanced portion of Navy/Marine Corps Student Naval Flight Officer (NFO) training with Training Air Wing Six at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.

The T-45A, which became operational in 1991, contains an analog cockpit design while the newer T-45C, which was first delivered in December 1997, features a new digital "glass cockpit" design. The T-45A and C models are currently in operational use. The T-45 is to be in service until 2035 or later.

Variants

 * T-45A
 * Two-seat basic and advanced jet trainer for the US Navy.


 * T-45B
 * Proposed land-based version for the US Navy, which would have been basically a conventional Hawk with a US Navy-spec cockpit and no carrier capability. The Navy had wanted the T-45B to get an earlier training capability, but abandoned the idea in 1984 in favor of less-costly updates to the TA-4J and T-2C.


 * T-45C
 * Improved T-45A with glass cockpit, inertial navigation, and other improvements. Existing T-45As are being upgraded to the T-45C standard.

Operators

 * USA
 * United States Navy operates the T-45C variant (glass cockpit, HUD).

Avionics
Data from naval-technology.com
 * Smiths Industries, Ltd. AN/USN-2(V) Standard Attitude Heading and Reference System (SAHRS). Later replaced by the BAE/Marconi AN/ASN-180 Navigation Guidance System (NGS).
 * Rockwell Collins AN/ARN-144 VHF Omnidirectional Radio Range / Instrument Landing System (VOR/ILS).
 * Honeywell AN/APN-194 Radar Altimeter.
 * Northrop Grumman AN/ASN-166 Inertial Guidance Set (IGS). Incorporates a Northrop Grumman (formerly Litton) LN-100G Ring Laser Gyroscope, a Rockwell Collins Global Positioning System (GPS), and a Kalman filter.

Communications Suite
Data from naval-technology.com
 * Rockwell Collins AN/ARN-182 UHF/VHF radio.
 * Honeywell AN/APX-100 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system.