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The Hawker Sea Hawk Mark 50 was the designation given to twenty-two aircraft ordered by the Dutch in 1956. This was the first over-seas order received for the Sea Hawk, and came several months after Armstrong Whitworth (the division of Hawker Siddeley responsible for building the Sea Hawk) had dismantled the production line.
The Sea Hawk Mark 50 was identical to the standard F.G.A. Mk.6, apart from the use of a Phillips UHF radio. They were paid for by NATO off-shore funding, a system that allowed the US government to buy arms for its allies, and were delivered between 18 July 1957 and 29 January 1958. Most of the Dutch Sea Hawks were used by No.860 Squadron from its land base at Valkenburg or onboard HMNS Karel Doorman.
In 1959 the Dutch Sea Hawks were modified to allow them to carry Sidewinder air-to-air guided missiles on their outer wing pylons, greatly increasing their military potential. The Dutch never used their Sea Hawks in combat, although the threat posed by the Karel Doorman did play a part in convincing Indonesia to abandon a planned invasion of Dutch New Guinea in 1962.
Engine: Rolls Royce Nene Mk.103
Power: 5,200lb thrust
Crew: 1
Wing span: 39ft 0in
Length: 39ft 8in
Height: 8ft 8in
Max Speed at Sea Level (clean): 599mph (Mach 0.79)
Max Speed at Sea Level (two tanks and two 500lb bombs): 518mph (Mach 0.68)
Max Speed at 20,000ft (clean): 528 mph (Mach 0.80)
Max Speed at 35,000ft (two tanks and two 500lb bombs): 523mph (Mach 0.77)
Time to 35,000ft: 11 minutes 50 seconds (clean)
Service Ceiling: 44,500ft (clean)
Armament: Four fixed forward-firing 20mm cannon
Bomb-load: Four 500lb bombs or 4 90 gallon drop tanks or twenty 3in or 5in rockets