Initially designed and built by Hunting Percival, the Jet Provost was a
jet-powered development of the Piston Provost trainer, which only
entered service five years before its more powerful younger sibling. The
Jet Provost became the RAF's first ab initio jet trainer when it entered
service in 1955 and would staunchly remain in this crucial role until
1993 when it was replaced by the Turboprop-powered Tucano.During its
long service career with the RAF, the Jet Provost progressed through
seven marks, although it was only from the T.3 onwards that numbers
began to climb. In 1960, Hunting Percival, which was renamed Hunting
three years earlier, was taken over by BAC. It was under this new
management that the Jet Provost was offered to a world audience with
some success in Ceylon, Iraq, Venezuela and Sudan. It was at this point
that a dedicated ground-attack version was created in the shape of the
Strikemaster, of which 146 were built serving with a number of foreign
air forces across the globe.