Hawker Hunter: Bücher - Geschichte und Einsatz (2/2)

The Hawker Hunter is one of Britain's classic post-war jet aircraft. Initially introduced in 1954 as a swept-wing, transonic, single-seat day interceptor, it rapidly succeeded the first-generation jet fighters in RAF service such as the Gloster Meteor and the de Havilland Venom. Powered by the then newly developed Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet, the Hunter's performance transformed the RAF's day fighter squadrons from the mid-1950s until the advent of the English Electric Lightning from the early 1960s.
Even then, as successively improved variants of the type were produced with increasingly more capable engines and expanded fuel capacity, the Hunter successfully transitioned into a strike/ground attack fighter-bomber and fighter reconnaissance platform.

Two-seat variants were developed for training and other secondary roles with the RAF and the Royal Navy and a few remained in use until 2001, albeit with specialised MoD Test and Evaluation units - well over forty years after the type's initial introduction. Hunters were also famously used by two RAF display teams, the 'Black Arrows'.

The Hunter saw combat service with the RAF in a range of conflicts including the Suez Crisis as well as various emergencies in the Middle East and Far East. The Hunter was also widely exported, serving with many foreign air forces, in which it also saw active service, which unfortunately lies outside the scope of this particular publication.
Almost 2,000 Hunters were manufactured by Hawker Siddeley Aviation, as well as being produced under licence overseas and will remain one of the UK's most iconic aircraft designs of all time.

Based on official records held at the National Archives and other published sources, 'Hunters over Arabia' presents an in-depth account of the operations performed by the Hawker Hunter squadrons policing the desert wastelands and high mountain ranges of the Middle East.
Copiously illustrated with colour and black and white photographs, a high percentage of operations performed by this versatile British ground attack and reconnaissance fighter are described in detail.

Using a chronological format, the narrative focuses on the period during which the Hunter served in the Middle East, from 1960 to 1971. Further chapters are dedicated to the three Hunter variants most closely associated with the Middle East, the FGA.9, FR.10 and T.7, together with their respective allocation dates.
A short background to Aden, its historical links to Britain, and RAF airfields administered by Middle East Command complete this factual account.

Designed by Sydney Camm as a swept wing, daytime interceptor with excellent manoeuvrability, the Hunter became the first jet aircraft manufactured by Hawker for the Royal Air Force. It set numerous aviation records and saw widespread service with a large number of RAF units in Europe and abroad.

When the Royal Air Force received newer aircraft capable of supersonic speeds to perform the interceptor duties, many Hunters were modified and re-equipped for ground-attack and reconnaissance missions instead. Because they were deemed surplus to British requirements, most of these were subsequently refurbished and exported to foreign customers - so also to Iraq and Jordan.

Hawker Hunters at War covers every aspect of Hunter's service in the two countries, from in-depth coverage of negotiations related to their export to Iraq and Jordan, to all-important details of their operational service during 1958-67.
It culminates in detailed examination of their role in the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War (also known as the 'Six Days War') and extensive tables listing all aircraft delivered and their fates. Almost entirely based on interviews with retired commanding officers and pilots of the former Royal Iraqi Air Force, Iraqi Air Force and Royal Jordanian Air Force - as well as plenty of unpublished official documents from British, Iraqi and Jordanian archives - the narrative is providing an unprecedented insight into a number of contemporary affairs.

Profusely illustrated with well over 100 photographs and 15 colour profiles showing all aspects of camouflage, markings and various equipment, Hawker Hunters at War is the ultimate profile of Hunter's colourful and action-packed service in Iraq and Jordan during a period when this legendary type formed the backbone of local air forces.

The Hunter is one of the world's greatest aircraft. For three decades, pilots have enthused about it, extolling the virtues of its smooth, aerodynamic lines, 4 x 30mm cannon, the Rolls-Royce Avon engine, and its outstandingly honest handling characteristics combined with a lively performance.
It saw operational deployment in Europe with Fighter Command and 2nd TAF, in Cyprus, the Middle East and the Far East, operating in the ground-attack role against rebels in Aden and Malaysia respectively.

The Hunter was a classic thoroughbred of its time, from the stables of one of the finest fighter manufacturers in the world and, for fifty years, its adaptability was rarely challenged.

Although the last example was retired in July 2001, the Hunter legend undoubtedly lives on, with 114 potentially airworthy airframes located in fourteen countries around the world.
Here, the legendary tale of the Hunter is told in words and images.