Hawker Sea Hawk

Sea Hawk
A Royal Navy Historic Flight Sea Hawk WV908 in Fleet Air Arm colours with tailhook extended, 1985
General information
Type	Naval fighter
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Hawker Aircraft Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft
Designer	Sydney Camm
Primary users	Royal Navy (historical) Indian Navy (historical) German Navy (historical) Royal Netherlands Navy (historical)
Number built	542
History
Introduction date	March 1953
First flight	2 September 1947
Retired	1983
Variants	Hawker P.1052 Hawker P.1072

The Hawker Sea Hawk is a British single-seat jet day fighter formerly of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the air branch of the Royal Navy (RN), built by Hawker Aircraft and its sister company, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Although its design originated from earlier Hawker piston-engined fighters, the Sea Hawk was the company's first jet aircraft.

Following acceptance in the RN, the Sea Hawk proved to be a reliable and sturdy workhorse. A considerable number were also produced for the export market and were operated from aircraft carriers in Dutch and Indian service. The last operational Sea Hawks, operated by the Indian Navy, were retired in 1983.