HAL successfully test-fires anti-airfield weapon from Hawk-i aircraft

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) successfully test-fired a Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) from the Hawk-i aircraft off the coast of Odisha on Thursday.

As per a statement from HAL, the indigenous stand-off weapon developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Defence Research and Development Orgsation (DRDO), is the first smart weapon fired from an Indian Hawk-Mk132.

The SAAW is a precision strike weapon of the 125-kilogram category used to attack and destroy enemy airfield assets such as radars, bunkers, taxi tracks, runways within a range of 100 km.

HAL test pilots Wing Commanders (Retd) P Awasthi and (Retd) M Patel flew the aircraft and executed the weapon release in a textbook manner. All mission objectives were met.

The telemetry and tracking systems captured all the mission events confirming the success of the trials, the statement added.

Chairman and Managing Director of HAL, R Madhavan was quoted in the statement saying that the orgsation has been focusing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Atmrbhar Bharat campaign and the company-owned Hawk-i platform is being extensively used for certification of systems and weapons developed indigenously by DRDO and CSIR labs.

The Hawk-i is HAL's internally funded program that offers the Indian Armed Forces an upgrade and combat capability, transforming it into an Advanced Jet Trainer providing training on sensors and weapons in peacetime into a potent combat platform during a conflict.

"The training and combat capability of Hawk-i is being indegenous enhanced and HAL is in discussions with Indian Armed Forces for integration of various weapons on Hawk platform," said Arup Chatterjee, Director of Engineering and R-D.

( With inputs from ANI )