Australia chooses to upgrade BAE Hawk fighter trainer instead of buying new

Australia's BAE Systems has been awarded an AUD1.5 billion (USD1 billion) contract to extend the life of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Hawk Mk 127 main combat trainer fleet.

A surprising decision amid question marks, is the Hawk-age aircraft sufficient to be used as a training aircraft for F-35 pilots?

This contract will run for 10 years, continuing BAE Systems' support for the platform it built for the RAAF and delivered from the early 2000s.

Australia has a total of 33 Hawk Mk127 aircraft which were purchased in 1997 and commenced delivery in 2000. 12 are manufactured in the UK at BAE's central plant, while 22 are manufactured at BAE's Australian plant in Sydney.

“The contract will … progressively renew the performance of the fast jet trainer aircraft through 2032,” said the Department of Defense (DoD) in Canberra.

The deal covers the provision of sustainability and supply chain services, Hawk software and hardware upgrades, and engineering support. Australia's BAE Systems said the program would also be "the basis for the progressive upgrade of mission systems".

Additionally, the contract facilitates integration into the RAAF's Rolls-Royce Mk 951 Adour aircraft from 2025, aligning the platform with the Royal Air Force's T2 Hawk aircraft.
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