21 October 2022

Hawk jet trainer engine problems spread to US Navy, US Marine Corps

by Gareth Jennings

NAVAIR has grounded the US Navy and US Marine Corps fleet of T-45 Goshawk jet trainers after a fault in the Adour engine was discovered. The UK recently reported a problem with a different version of the Adour engine that powers its Hawk T2 jets, but it is unclear if the two issues are related. (US Navy)

Problems with the powerplant of the Hawk advanced jet trainer aircraft first reported by Janes have now spread to the US Navy (USN) and US Marine Corps (USMC).

With the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) first reporting a problem with the Rolls-Royce Safran Adour 951 engine of its BAE Systems Hawk T2 fleet in September 2022, the USN and USMC said on 18 October that its fleet of Boeing T-45 Goshawk jets had been grounded because of an issue with the F405-RR-401 engine, a US version of the Adour 871.

“Out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety of our aviators, the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) made the decision to halt all T-45C Goshawk operations following the discovery of an engine blade failure,” CNATRA Rear Admiral Richard Brophy was quoted as saying. “We are working with our partners towards a swift resolution. Safety is at the core of our operations, and we must not expose our pilots or aircraft to unnecessary risk.”

The US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) identified the nature of the problem as being an engine blade failure, but provided no further details. In September, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that the issue with its engines was related to “components contained in the Safran-manufactured Module 1 of the engine, also known as the low-pressure compressor”.

Neither Rolls-Royce nor Safran were able to immediately respond to a Janes

Problems with the powerplant of the Hawk advanced jet trainer aircraft first reported by Janes have ...

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