BAC Strikemaster

The BAC 167 Strikemaster is a British jet-powered training and light attack aircraft. It was a development of the Hunting Jet Provost trainer, itself a jet engined version of the Percival Provost, which originally flew in 1950 with a radial piston engine.

BAC 167 Strikemaster
BAC 167 Strikemaster Mk 82A in Sultan of Oman's Air Force colour scheme at the 2013 Shoreham Airshow
Role Attack aircraft, Jet trainer
Manufacturer British Aircraft Corporation
First flight 26 October 1967
Retired 1993[1]
Status Retired
Primary users Royal Saudi Air Force
Ecuadorian Air Force
Kenya Air Force
Royal New Zealand Air Force
Produced 1967–1984
Number built 146
Developed from BAC Jet Provost

Design and development

The BAC 167 Strikemaster is essentially an armed version of the Jet Provost T Mk 5; the Strikemaster was modified with an uprated engine, wing hardpoints capable of carrying four 500 pound Mk82 bombs, two machine guns under the intakes, uprated flap system with two jacks, larger airbrake jacks, new communication and navigation gear, different electrical system, canopy breakers on the ejection seats, and a revised fuel system including tip tanks on the wing tips. First flown in 1967, the aircraft was marketed as a light attack or counter-insurgency aircraft, but most large-scale purchasers were air forces wanting an advanced trainer, although Ecuador, Oman and Yemen have used their aircraft in combat. A total of 146 were built.

Operational history

The Strikemaster was capable of operating from rough air strips, with dual ejection seats suitable even for low-altitude escape, and it was therefore widely used by third-world nations. Operations by the type were restricted by most military users after the Royal New Zealand Air Force found fatigue cracking in the wings of its aircraft. Many aircraft retired by Botswana, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and Singapore are in museums and private collections.

The Strikemaster was deployed by the Royal Air Force of Oman on several occasions during the Dhofar Rebellion, including a notable appearance providing Close Air Support during the Battle of Mirbat. Three Strikemasters were shot down over the course of the war, including one lost to an SA-7 missile.

The Ecuadorian Air Force deployed the Strikemaster during the brief 1995 Cenepa War, flying ground sorties against Peruvian positions. An Ecuadorian Strikemaster crashed during a training mission in the Northern Border area, near Colombia, on 25 March 2009. Both pilots ejected; one later died of injuries received during the rescue attempt.[2]

Variants
Photographed 14 years after it was retired, this BAC Strikemaster still wears the colours of No. 14 Squadron RNZAF.
The four BAC Strikemasters of the UK aerobatics display team Team Viper at Cotswold Airport, Gloucestershire, England
One of Botswana's Strikemasters
RNZAF Strikemasters in 1984
  • Strikemaster Mk 80 : Export version for Saudi Arabia, 25 aircraft.
  • Strikemaster Mk 80A: 20 aircraft were sold to Saudi Arabia as part of a follow-up order.
  • Strikemaster Mk 81 : Export version for South Yemen, four aircraft.
  • Strikemaster Mk 82 : Export version for Oman, 12 aircraft.
  • Strikemaster Mk 82A: 12 aircraft were sold to Oman as part of a follow-up order.
  • Strikemaster Mk 83 : Export version for Kuwait, 12 aircraft.
  • Strikemaster Mk 84 : Export version for Singapore, 16 aircraft.
  • Strikemaster Mk 87 : Export version for Kenya, six aircraft.
  • Strikemaster Mk 88 : Export version for New Zealand, 16 aircraft.
  • Strikemaster Mk 89 : Export version for Ecuador, 22 aircraft.
  • Strikemaster Mk 89A: A number of aircraft were sold to Ecuador as part of a follow-up order.
  • Strikemaster Mk 90 : Export version for Sudan. The last Strikemaster was delivered to Sudan in 1984.

Production
  • Strikemaster 80: 136
  • Strikemaster 90: 10

Operators
 Botswana
 Ecuador
 Ivory Coast
 Kenya
 Kuwait
 New Zealand
 Oman
 Saudi Arabia
 Singapore
 South Yemen
 Sudan

Specifications (Strikemaster Mk 88)
BAC Strikemaster, Shoreham Airshow 2014

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976–77[6]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 33 ft 8+1⁄2 in (10.274 m)
  • Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
  • Height: 10 ft 11+1⁄2 in (3.340 m)
  • Wing area: 213.7 sq ft (19.85 m2)
  • Airfoil: NACA 23015 (modified) at root, NACA 4412 (modified) at tip
  • Empty weight: 6,195 lb (2,810 kg)
  • Gross weight: 9,303 lb (4,220 kg) pilot training
  • Max takeoff weight: 11,500 lb (5,216 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: 366 imp gal (440 US gal; 1,660 L) total including tip tanks
  • Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Viper Mk.535 turbojet, 3,140 lbf (14.0 kN) thrust

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 481 mph (774 km/h, 418 kn) at 18,000 ft (5,500 m)
  • Stall speed: 98 mph (158 km/h, 85 kn) flaps down
  • Never exceed speed: 518 mph (834 km/h, 450 kn)
  • Range: 3,182 mi (5,121 km, 2,765 nmi)
  • Combat range: 145 mi (233 km, 126 nmi) combat radius: with 3,000 lb (1,400 kg) weapons, lo-lo-lo profile
  • Service ceiling: 40,000 ft (12,000 m)
  • Rate of climb: 5,250 ft/min (26.7 m/s)

Armament

  • Guns: 2× 7.62 mm machine guns with 550 rounds each
  • Hardpoints: 4 (2 per wing) with a capacity of 3,000 lb (1,400 kg) of bombs, machine gun pods, air-to-ground rocket pods, fuel drop tanks, and napalm tanks.

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

Notes
  1. Images, Skytamer. "BAC Jet Provost T.Mk.5A British two-seat jet-trainer". www.skytamer.com.
  2. "Ejected Pilot Survives Crash, Dies During Rescue Accident." Archived 28 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine foxnews.com, 26 March 2009. Retrieved: 26 April 2012.
  3. Cooper, Tom; Mladenov, Alexander (5 August 2004). "Cote d'Ivoire, since 2002". acig.org. ACIG. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012.
  4. Cooper, Tom (2017). Hot Skies Over Yemen, Volume 1: Aerial Warfare Over the South Arabian Peninsula, 1962-1994. Solihull, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-912174-23-2.
  5. Cooper, Tom; Weinert, Peter; Hinz, Fabian; Lepko, Mark (2011). African MiGs, Volume 2: Madagascar to Zimbabwe. Houston: Harpia Publishing. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-9825539-8-5.
  6. Taylor 1976, pp. 172–173.

Bibliography
  • Matos, José (2017). "Nao obrigado!: Portugal's Flirtation with the Hunting Jet Provost & BAC Strikemaster". The Aviation Historian (20): 84–88. ISSN 2051-1930.
  • Taylor, John W.R. "Hunting Jet Provost and BAC 167." Combat Aircraft of the World from 1909 to the present. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. ISBN 0-425-03633-2.
  • Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976–77. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 1976. ISBN 0-354-00538-3.
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