KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 (Xinhua) -- The Malaysian air force said Thursday that one of its Hawk training aircraft had gone missing after taking off.

The British Hawk 108 training aircraft took off from an airbase in Kuantan at 11 a.m. local time but lost contact half an hour later, the air force said in a statement.

The search and rescue operation is underway, the statement added.

Hawk is a single-engine training jet manufactured by British BAE systems. It could be also used as a combat aircraft.