On Thursday, Hindustan Aeronautics also commonly referred to as HAL successfully test-fired a Smart Anti Airfield Weapon (SAAW) from the Hawk-i aircraft which took off the coast of Odisha. DRDO is the first smart weapon fired from an Indian Hawk- Mk132; The indigenous stand-off weapon developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI).
R Madhavan the CMD of HAL, said that “HAL has been focusing on the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign. The company owned Hawk-i platform is being extensively used for certification of systems and weapons developed indigenously by DRDO and CSIR labs,”
The weapon was released in a textbook manner and all mission objectives were met. The telemetry and tracking systems were able to capture all the mission events confirming the success of the trials. Wg Cdr (Retd) P Awasthi and Wg Cdr (Retd) M Patel were the aircraft’s test pilots.
The Director, Engineering and R&D, HAL, Arup Chatterjee, stated that HAL is indigenously enhancing the training and combat capability of Hawk-i. It under discussions with the Indian Armed Forces for the integration of various weapons on Hawk platform.
Further, a HAL statement read, “The Hawk-i is HAL’s internally funded programme offering the Indian Armed Forces an upgrade and combat capability for the Hawk, transforming it into an advanced jet trainer providing training on sensors and weapons in peacetime into a potent combat platform during the conflict.”
