BAE Systems will partner with Malaysian MRO company Airod to upgrade the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Hawk 208 single-seat light attack aircraft and ensure its continued operational availability. AIN understands that the upgrade will include a new radar warning receiver, electronic countermeasures and a digital video recorder. New  mission-planning software will also be provided, and possibly also a new radar.
The renewal of partnership and memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on March 22 at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) exhibition. A previous MoU between the two companies, signed a year ago, did not state which variant of the Hawk the RMAF will upgrade. The RMAF flies six two-seat Hawk 108s and 12 single-seat Hawk 208s.

BAE Systems will design, manufacture and certify the upgrade, while Airod will be responsible for the integration of the system into the aircraft. The work will be carried out entirely in Malaysia and will span three years. Mike Swales, Hawk program director for BAE Systems, said that the contract will be signed within the next two months, and the program will start later this year.

Roslan Bin Ali, manager of fixed-wing marketing for Airod, said that the Rolls-Royce Adour 871 engine is still very reliable, but the Northrop Grumman APG-66H radar is degrading after over 20 years of service. The possibility of a radar upgrade is dependent on the RMAF’s requirements, he added.

Last year, the RMAF fully deployed its No. 6 Squadron from Kuantan airbase on peninsular Malaysia to Labuan airbase in East Malaysia to strengthen security in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone, especially after the Lahad Datu incursion in 2013. The Hawk 208 (as well as the RMAF’s Boeing F/A-18Ds) was used in air strikes against the Filipino insurgents.