page_title: UK Military Flying Training System
section_title: Advanced Jet Trainer
hierarchical_section_title: UK Military Flying Training System / Advanced Jet Trainer
caption_attribution_description: English: BAE Hawk T2 (serial number ZK020) of the Royal Air Force at the Royal International Air Tattoo 2009 at RAF Fairford, England.
context_page_description: The UK Military Flying Training System takes UK armed forces aircrew from initial training through elementary, basic, and advanced flying training phases, preparing them for their arrival at their designated operational aircraft units. It is operated by Ascent Flight Training, a consortium of Lockheed Martin and Babcock International under a 25-year Private Finance Initiative contract for the UK's Ministry of Defence. Apart from the overall contract, the main elements of the system include fixed-wing elementary, multi-engine and fast-jet pilot training, rear crew training and rotary-wing training.
context_section_description: The MoD required an Advanced Jet Trainer for pre-operational training of fast-jet pilots. It was then being carried out using the BAE Systems Hawk, which would need to be replaced in the tactical weapons training role from 2010 onwards. The full range of skills required for aircrew to fly front-line aircraft could not then be gained using the Hawk, so more training on operational aircraft had to be undertaken. The introduction of the Eurofighter Typhoon and the future Joint Combat Aircraft exacerbated this training gap such that the required standard for Typhoon aircrew was not achievable with the Hawk.
  The Advanced Jet Trainer was to be the fast jet element of the UKMFTS programme, with a modern glass cockpit environment, modern avionics, front-line sensor simulation and weapons and a flexible and upgradeable mission system. The requirement included support, infrastructure and a ground based training environment. It was envisaged that it could eventually be subsumed within the main UKMTS.
  The £1bn deal to supply up 31 BAE Systems Hawks was said to be at risk in early 2003 because the MoD wanted to compare the BAE Systems bid with the Italian Aermacchi M-346.  The MoD had wanted a leasing deal under the private finance initiative (PFI), to transfer risk to the contractor rather than buy aircraft outright, with at least 11,000 flying hours a year being required.  The upfront costs of developing and building the new aircraft, while waiting for lease payments, were not favoured by BAE Systems, and the first PFI proposal that was submitted in March 2003 was considered too expensive by the Treasury.
  By April 2003, UK ministers had rejected calls for full-scale international competition against manufacturers of the M-346 and the T-50 Golden Eagle.  The future of the Brough site would have been in serious doubt had BAE Systems lost the contract.  Although the Hawk had been designed in the 1970s, BAE Systems offers an updated version with advanced avionics plus an upgraded Rolls-Royce engine.
  Gordon Brown tried to intervene but was over-ruled by Tony Blair in a dispute against Geoff Hoon.  Brown had wanted to reduce costs by putting the contract out to competitive tender, but jobs and export orders were considered more important. The purchase cost of the 44 aircraft was expected to be around £800 million. The original proposal envisaged BAE Systems providing both the new training system and the Hawk 128 jets in a PFI arrangement. But the BAE Systems package was judged unaffordable by the Treasury. The remainder of UKMFTS contract, estimated to be worth about £9 billion at the time, would therefore be opened up to competition as a separate contract. Ministerial Direction was given to conventionally procure 20 Hawk 128s from BAE Systems, with an option for a further 24 on 30 Jul 2003. The decision is reported to have saved at least 470 BAE Systems jobs at Brough in east Yorkshire.
  A£31m contract was placed with BAE Systems to cover risk reduction activities to October 2003.  In November 2004, approval was given for a combined assessment & development phase at up to £196m and completion by August 2008, with the assessment phase element being approximately £75m.  The MoD awarded a Design and Development Contract to BAE Systems on 22 December 2004. The Hawk 128 Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft was expected to cost approximately £3.5 billion throughout 20-year lifetime.
  According to the National Audit Office:  in August 2006, approval was reached for a figure of up to £497m with an estimated 80% confidence level of achieving this. This approval set the aircraft build standard, definition of in-service date, key system requirements and aircraft numbers.
  The RAF began receiving the first Hawk T2s in 2009, as the start of the long term replacement for the ageing T1.Hawk T2 Advanced jet training was to be carried out at RAF Valley. Training operations on the Hawk T2 began in April 2012.
caption: Hawk T2 of the Royal Air Force (2009)
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