{{Short description|Egyptian interceptor aircraft prototype}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox aircraft |name=HA-300 |image= File:HA-300 side.jpg |caption= |type=Single-seat interceptor |manufacturer=Egyptian General Aero Organisation |national_origin=Egypt |designer=Willy Messerschmitt |first_flight=7 March 1964 |introduction= |retired= |status=Cancelled |primary_user=Egyptian Air Force |produced=1964–1969 |number_built= 3 }}
The '''Helwan HA-300''' ({{langx|ar|حلوان ٣٠٠}}) was a single-engine, delta-wing, light supersonic interceptor aircraft developed in Egypt during the 1960s.
At various stages, Spain and India were involved in the development program. Spain was financing two projects, the HA-200 and the '''Hispano HA-300''', but cancelled the HA-300 project before a prototype was built due to overruns. Egypt then took over financing, and the program was transferred to Egypt where both it and its engine would be made, and where the aircraft was successfully flown. Near the end of the program, India began financing the development of the E-300 engine for use in the Indian HF-24 Marut jet fighter.
The HA-300 was an ambitious and costly project for Egypt, at a time when it was seeking to expand both its civilian and defence aviation industry.
==Design and development== ===Hispano HA P-300 (HA-23P)=== At the end of World War II, German aircraft designer Willy Messerschmitt moved to Spain, where he joined Hispano Aviación and started designing an ultralight fighter aircraft in 1951.<ref name="cancelled">{{cite web|url=http://www.eads.net/1024/en/eads/history/airhist/1950_1959/ha300_1953/ha300_1953.html |title=Hispano Aviácion HA 300 |accessdate=2008-08-18 |date=2008-07-20 |publisher=EADS |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626115917/http://www.eads.net/1024/en/eads/history/airhist/1950_1959/ha300_1953/ha300_1953.html |archivedate=26 June 2007 }}</ref>
When Messerschmitt was eventually allowed to start work on the project, designated the HA-300, he first built a tailless delta-winged glider, the Hispano HA P-300 (also known as the HA-23P). It was of mixed wood and metal construction, having a light alloy forward fuselage and wooden rear section. Of {{convert|20|ft|2|in|m}} span, the thin delta wing was also of mixed construction, with an area of {{convert|215|sqft|sqm}} and an aspect ratio of 1.89:1. For test flights the glider was towed into the air, first by a car and then, more successfully, by a CASA 2.111.<ref name="moralez">Moralez (2019)</ref> One test flight was prematurely terminated due to instability and the glider did not become airborne.<ref name="Schick">{{cite book|last1=Schick |first1=Walter |last2=Radinger |first2=Willy |title=Messerschmitt-Geheimprojekte : [Studien, Projekte und Prototypen für einstrahlige Jagdflugzeuge : Meilensteine auf dem Weg zum modernen Kampfflugzeug] |date=2004 |publisher=AVIATIC-Verl. |location=Oberhaching |isbn=978-3925505140 |edition=3. Aufl. |language=German |pages=149–150}}</ref> Wind tunnel tests also confirmed the instability.<ref name="moralez"/> Due to funding problems, non-availability of the planned afterburning Bristol Orpheus engine for production and the resultant long development time, Spain abandoned the project in 1960.<ref name="History">{{cite web|url=http://www.aviationfans.com/node/4 |title=The Egyptian Helwan HA-300 |publisher=Aviation fans |author=Ace |date=2006-12-10 |accessdate=2008-08-08 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917051220/http://aviationfans.com/node/4 |archivedate=17 September 2008}}</ref><ref name="moralez"/>
===HA-300 transfer to Egypt=== thumb|right|Front view of HA-300 showing tailed delta-wing and the undercarriage Egypt then acquired the design from Hispano Aviación. The design team, headed by Messerschmitt, moved to Helwan, Egypt, to continue its work on the HA-300, which now stood for Helwan Aircraft 300.<ref name="Info"/> Ferdinand Brandner, an Austrian jet engine expert, was also invited to develop a turbojet for the new fighter, to replace the abandoned Orpheus. Egypt aimed to produce a lightweight supersonic, single-seat fighter that could join the Egyptian Air Force as an interceptor.<ref name = "description" />
===HA-300=== Egyptian development of the HA-300 started in the test facilities and workshops in Factory No. 36 in Helwan, southeast of Cairo, under the supervision of the Egyptian General Aero Organisation (EGAO), beginning officially in 1959.
Besides the addition of a jet engine with semicircular side intakes and single exhaust nozzle, the fighter also featured a slightly smaller wing with an additional low-mounted, all-moving tail stabilizer. Much of the avionics fit was of European origin.<ref name="moralez"/>
The first prototype of the HA-300, still powered by a {{cvt|2,200|kgf|kN lbf}} Bristol Siddeley Orpheus 703-S-10, first flew on 7 March 1964,<ref name="eye witness">{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1960s/Six-Day.html |title=Eyewitness to the Six-Day War |work=The Sixties |publisher=Indian Air Force |first=Group Captain Kapil |last=Bhargava |accessdate=2008-08-09 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704140820/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1960s/Six-Day.html |archivedate=4 July 2008 }}</ref> and achieved Mach 1.13.<ref name="statistics">{{cite web|url=http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/FRTYPEN/FRHA-300.htm |publisher=Flug revue |title=Helwan HA-300 |date=1998-07-14 |accessdate=2008-08-09 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704193341/http://flug-revue.rotor.com/FRTYPEN/FRHA-300.htm |archivedate=4 July 2008 }}</ref> Egypt sent two Egyptian pilots to India in 1964 to prepare for the HA-300 flight development.<ref name="Info"/> It was followed by a second Orpheus-powered prototype which first flew on 22 July 1965.
The third and last prototype was fitted with the Egyptian E-300 engine, which it was hoped would make it capable of attaining {{cvt|12000|m}} and Mach 2.0 within 2.5 min after takeoff. However takeoff runs revealed teething problems with the engine and it never flew.<ref name="moralez"/>
Over {{EGP|135 million|link=yes}} was spent on the program.<ref>{{cite web|title=Helwan HA-300|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/egypt/ha-300.htm|website=globalsecurity.org|accessdate=29 January 2016}}</ref>
===E-300 Engine=== thumb|left|Brandner E-300 engine {{main |Brandner E-300}} The HA-300 fighter was originally designed around the {{cvt|8170|lbf|kN|1}} afterburning Bristol Siddeley Orpheus Orpheus 703-S-10 turbojet, but aside from whether the British would even release it for use by the Egyptians, President Nasser saw that being dependent on a British engine was a major threat to national security, due to the potential for an embargo to ground the aircraft thanks to continued British hostility toward Egypt following the 1956 Suez Crisis when Britain, France and Israel invaded Egypt.
The HA-300 was modified for the Egyptian Brandner E-300 engine, whose planned output was to have been {{cvt|10600|lbf|kN|1}} of thrust on afterburner, which would also improve the HA-300's performance. India assisted in funding its development in exchange for their use of it as the powerplant for their HF-24 Marut.<ref name = "Info" /> The E-300 ran successfully for the first time in July 1963.<ref name = "History" />
===Termination=== The Helwan-300 project was cancelled in May 1969. The reason was not publicly stated but financial and political factors likely played a part. The German engineers working on the design were forced to leave Egypt after receiving multiple death threats from the Israeli Mossad.{{cn|date=March 2026}} In order to fill the now vacant role, Egypt established close contacts with the Soviet Union and purchased Soviet aircraft instead of continuing to develop indigenous designs.<ref name="cancelled"/><ref name="description">{{cite web|url=http://www.e-sac.org/articles/scripts/article.php?id=13&tit=Helwan-300%3A+The+Egyptian+Interceptor+Project&cat=avart |first=Mohamed |last=Bahaa |publisher=e-sac |title=Helwan-300: The Egyptian Interceptor Project |work=Aviation Articles |date=2007-11-28 |accessdate=2008-08-08 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217073951/http://www.e-sac.org/articles/scripts/article.php?id=13&tit=Helwan-300%3A+The+Egyptian+Interceptor+Project&cat=avart |archivedate=17 February 2008 }}</ref>
==Aircraft on display== [[File:Helwan HA-300, Flugwerft Schleißheim.jpg|thumb|The first prototype Helwan HA-300 at the Deutsches Museum Flugwerft Schleissheim near Munich, Germany]] * The first HA-300 prototype has been on display in the Deutsches Museum Flugwerft Schleissheim at Oberschleißheim near Munich since 1997. It was bought by Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG (DASA) and restored at Manching by MBB over a five and a half year period.<ref name="Info">{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1960s/Kapil-HA300.html|title=Messerschmitt's HA-300 and its Indian Connection|publisher=Indian Air Force|author=Group Captain Kapil Bhargava|work=MEMOIRS|accessdate=2008-08-08|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705050530/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1960s/Kapil-HA300.html|archivedate=5 July 2008}}</ref> *One HA-300 is displayed by the Messerschmitt Stiftung in Manching. *Another Ha-300 is displayed in the Air Force Museum in Cairo
==Specifications (HA-300 with Orpheus 703 engine)== thumb|Helwan HA-300 3-view drawing {{Aircraft specs <!--Template:Aircraft specs--> |ref=Deutsches Museum Flugwerft Schleissheim,<ref>{{cite web|title=Hispano Aviacion HA-300 |url=http://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/flugwerft/collections/jet-aircraft/ha-300/ |website=Deutsches Museum Flugwerft Schleissheim |publisher=Deutsches Museum |accessdate=14 October 2014 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414013904/http://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/flugwerft/collections/jet-aircraft/ha-300 |archivedate=14 April 2015 }}</ref> theaircache.com,<ref name=aircache>{{cite web|last1=Guilfoil|first1=John M.|title=HA-300|url=http://theaircache.com/2012/07/13/ha-300/|website=Air Cache|accessdate=14 October 2014|date=13 July 2012|archive-date=23 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223190614/http://theaircache.com/2012/07/13/ha-300/|url-status=dead}}</ref> |prime units?=met |crew=One <!-- Dimensions - do not convert, enter only as they appear in the reference.--> |length m=12.40 |span m=5.84 |height m=3.15 |wing area sqm=16.70 |airfoil=Biconvex 3%<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lednicer|first1=David|title=The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage|url=https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/aircraft.html|website=m-selig.ae.illinois.edu|accessdate=9 October 2019}}</ref> <!-- Weights --> |empty weight kg=2100 |max takeoff weight kg=3200 <!-- Powerplant --> |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Bristol Orpheus 703-S-10 (first two prototypes) |eng1 type=turbojet |eng1 kn=21.6 |eng1 kn-ab=36.3 |eng2 number=1 |eng2 name=Brandner E-300 (third prototype) |eng2 type=turbojet |eng2 kn=32.4 |eng2 kn-ab=47.2 <!-- Performance --> |max speed mach=1.98, Mach 2.1 with Brandner E-300 engine |max speed kmh=2100 |cruise speed kmh= |range km=1400 |ceiling m=18000 |climb rate ms=203 |wing loading kg/m2=125.749 |power/mass=0.88 <!-- Armament --> |guns= 2 × 20mm Hispano or 4 × 23mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannon |missiles = 4 × K-13 infrared homing air-to-air missiles }}
==See also== {{Portal|Aviation}} {{aircontent |see also= |related=<!-- related developments --> |similar aircraft=<!-- similar or comparable aircraft --> *Dassault Mirage F1 *Dassault Mirage 5 *Folland Gnat *Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 *Northrop F-5 |lists=<!-- related lists --> *List of fighter aircraft }}
==References== {{Commons category}}
===Citations=== {{reflist|30em}}
===Bibliography=== * Bar-Zohar, Michael. and Nissim Mishal Hirschel. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SQGuAwAAQBAJ&dq=Messerschmitt&pg=PT104 ''Mossad: The Great Operations of Israel's Secret Service''.] London: Biteback Publishing, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1-84954-543-3}} * Buttler, Tony. ''X-Planes of Europe II: Military Prototype Aircraft from the Golden Age 1946–1974''. Manchester, UK: Hikoki Publications, 2015. {{ISBN|978-1-90210-948-0}} * Edgerton, David. [https://books.google.com/books?id=H-arezi4YMcC&dq=Messerschmitt&pg=PA125 ''The Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History Since 1900''.] Madison Avenue, New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-19-532283-5}} * Hirschel, Ernst Heinrich., Horst Prem, and Gero Madelung. [https://books.google.com/books?id=OoFcHOLpCskC&dq=HA-300&pg=PA339 ''Aeronautical Research in Germany: From Lilienthal Until Today (Illustrated ed)''.] Springer Science & Business Media, 2004. {{ISBN|3-540-40645-X}} * Moralez, Joao Paulo and Stroud, Nick. "From Nile Eagle to Nasser's Folly: The Hispano/Helwan HA-300". ''The Aviation Historian''. No 27. April 2019. pp 30–40.
==External links== *[https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/lightweight-adventure] *[https://www.cavok.com.br/helwan-ha-300] *[https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/egyptian-jet-fighter-helwan-ha-300/#google_vignette]
{{EGAO aircraft}} {{Spanish fighters}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helwan Ha-300}} HA-300 Category:1960s Egyptian fighter aircraft Category:Single-engined jet aircraft Category:Cancelled military aircraft projects Category:Mid-wing aircraft Category:Egypt–Spain relations Category:Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear