The UK plans to retire its entire fleet of 76 Hawk T1 trainer aircraft.

This leaves only 28 Hawk aircraft in British service, the T2 variant.

The Defence Command Paper released today, titled ‘Defence in a Competitive Age‘, states:

“The Royal Air Force will retire equipment that has increasingly limited utility in the digital
and future operating environment. This will include rationalising older fleets to improve
efficiency, retiring Typhoon Tranche 1 by 2025, and Hawk T1. We will enhance the new military flying training system with further investment in synthetic training that will deliver more capable pilots more quickly and more efficiently.”

Hawk T1 jets are used used in the aggressor role by No. 100 Squadron and famous as display aircraft by the Red Arrows. However the Express reports that the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team have been saved from the axe in a defence review to be published in the week commencing March 22.

“Though Ministry of Defence insiders have confirmed that the iconic team will not be felled next week, RAF sources insisted its days were numbered unless other streams of financial support could be found urgently. The Red Arrows has arranged a raft of sponsorship deals with some blue-chip brands, ranging from BAE, Barbour and Breitling to Land Rover and Rolls Royce, worth just under a million pounds in total.”

This defence review was previously described by Boris Johnson as the largest review of its kind since the Cold War.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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64 COMMENTS

  2. So, 736 NAS days are already numbered. I thought maritime aggressor role would then pass to 100 Sqn but if Hawk is going?

    Any chance of a Hawk T2 order HMG? For our factories, RAFDT, and 100 Sqn?

  4. They should have been considering the purchase of more P8 MPA . The underseas and surface threat to UK surface forces is greater than it ever was. Their vulnerability is a critical factor when you consider the ships and aircraft at sea. Protection is paramount considering the investment already made.

  5. If anyone at MoD/HM Treasury had been awake, we could have bought cheaply the 12-13 updated Hawk MK63, that were donated by UAE to Jordan & Jordan did not need, so they put them up for sale.

  6. From the document
    7.45. We will retire the E-3D Sentry in 2021, as part of the transition to the more modern and more capable fleet of three E-7A Wedgetail in 2023. The E-7A will transform our UK Airborne Early Warning and Control capability and the UK’s contribution to NATO. The nine P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft will help to secure our seas. The introduction into service of the 16 long-range Protector remotely piloted systems will be the backbone of persistent, multi- spectral surveillance, with the ability to strike and act decisively against our potential adversaries around the globe

    • 7.41. The Royal Air Force will continue to grow its Combat Air capacity over the next few years as we fully establish all seven operational Typhoon Squadrons and grow the Lightning II Force, increasing the fleet size beyond the 48 aircraft that we have already ordered. Together they will provide a formidable capability, which will be continually upgraded to meet the threat, exploit multi-domain integration and expand utility. The Royal Air Force will spiral develop Typhoon capability, integrate new weapons such as the UK-developed ‘SPEAR Cap 3’ precision air- launched weapon and invest in the Radar 2 programme to give it a powerful electronically scanned array radar. We will integrate more UK weapons onto Lightning II and invest to ensure that its software and capability are updated alongside the rest of the global F-35 fleet.
      7.42. We will also make a strategic investment of more than £2bn over the next four years in the Future Combat Air System (FCAS). FCAS will deliver an innovative mix of crewed, uncrewed
      and autonomous platforms including swarming drones. This will deliver an advanced combat air system capable of fighting in the most hostile environments. The development of novel technologies, and a step change in how we use simulators for mission rehearsal and training, will enable the Royal Air Force to be among the most technologically innovative, productive and lethal air forces in the world.
      7.43. The Royal Air Force’s cutting-edge equipment programmes will supercharge our contribution to national prosperity through innovation and investment in science and technology, building on our unique partnership with the UK’s aerospace and space technology sector.
      7.44. The Royal Air Force will retire equipment that has increasingly limited utility in the digital and future operating environment. This will include rationalising older fleets to improve efficiency, retiring Typhoon Tranche 1 by 2025, and Hawk T1. We will enhance the new military flying training system with further investment in synthetic training that will deliver more capable pilots more quickly and more efficiently. The Royal Air Force will retire the BAe146 as planned by 2022 and take the C130 Hercules out of service by 2023. The A400M Atlas force will increase its capacity and capability, operating alongside C-17 Globemaster and Voyager transport aircraft and tankers.

      • 48 F35-B by 2025 (no actual additional numbers mentioned) minus Typhoon Tranche 1’s and T1’s=cuts with a promise of more to come in the future (2030)?

      • 7.39 “The Army is retiring its oldest Chinook helicopters”. Has anyone told the AAC or RAF this? A typo?

      • Hi Farouk-how will the RAF manage 7 sqns of Typhoons with the early retirement of the tranche 1s? So very light on the numbers to achieved this.
        Very concerned around statements of intent to get ore than 48 F35- means nothing should me the money!

        • Loyal Wingman is coming – the paper is useless at decribing how unmanned can increase mass unfortunately – written by a committee of Rock Apes. You can expect each manned fast jet to partners with 2-3 UCAVs by 2030.

  7. further investment in synthetic training that will deliver more capable pilots more quickly

    Makes me think of Aliens when the Marines are in the drop ship on the way to fight:

    Ripley : How many drops is this for you, Lieutenant?
    Lieutenant Gorman : Thirty eight… simulated.
    Private Vasquez : How many *combat* drops?
    Lieutenant Gorman : Uh, two. Including this one.

    Is that what synthetic means?

    • Haha! Massive hankering to watch Aliens now! Considering all the cuts coming our way, it reminds me of another line just as their weapons get taken away… “What are we supposed to use man… harsh language?”.
      M@

  8. 7.39
    Quote ‘the Army is to retire its oldest CH47 Chinook helicopters’. Funny that, I thought they were operated by the RAF. Still, the MOD should know or did I miss something. Looks like all the C130Js will go without any replacement by A400s. That was inevitable after spending millions on new wing box sections for them. What a priceless bunch of buggers!
    This is just a whole load of cuts rubbed down with the word digital.

    • Spot on. Well said.

      “What a priceless bunch of buggers!
      This is just a whole load of cuts rubbed down with the word digital”.

  9. 28 Hawks, 90 Typhoons, 48 F35B’s……. Christ, can we even afford that many ? reckon we need another review.

  11. If I’m honest this call isn’t to much of an issue to me, as the RAF want to do most flight training on simulators, and the old T1s, while useful in a role as an aggressor (private companies can do it) it’s old, and not relevant to the RAF training needs. The 28 T2s hopefully will be enough……hopefully

    • a year or two ago, trainee pilots were sent to 100 sqn for training since the 2 T2 squadrons at Valley did not have the capacity. 28 T2s is not enough, there is no reserve, they are flogged! I was hoping for a modest order of advanced hawks to serve in the aggressor role and as a lower-tech bomb truck…can’t cost that much!

  12. Hmm, no one can deny the Hawk T1’s are getting on and have been living on borrowed time but typically fuzzy talk here of simulators and commercial operators instead of any concrete plans.

    I imagine fast-jet training may just about cope with the 28 Hawk T2’s and a lot of synthetic training, whilst the aggressor role will be filled by some sort of chartered, PFI deal and the Red Arrows will have to hope they find sufficient sponsorship to buy and run a new fleet.

    Will probably in-turn spell the end for RAF Leeming sadly.

  13. Hawk T2 New Build ??? Does the RAF want a 3o year old design as a trainer ???.
    Hawk T2 didnt meet the requirements to go up against RED HAWK.

    But there seems to be cooling towards using American equipment since old Joe Pissed of the English.

    RAF has failed its fast jet training programme, NAO report is damming with contracts to private firms to train, transport programs pilots.

    IF as we are told the F35 really has a 20-1 ratio then we dont need 3 planes for one pilot to fly…

  16. If the Australians retire their reasonably new Hawks for T-7 Redhawks, perhaps the UK could buy the Hawks?

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