LONDON - Britain may cut its fleet of Hawk T2 advanced training aircraft by nearly one-third following last year's government decision to slash the number of combat jets flown by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.
Eight, maybe more, of the new BAE Systems jets could be disposed of without ever having been used for training pilots, industry executives here said.
"The requirement is for about 20 aircraft, but we are looking at how we might keep other T2s occupied by offering training to foreign governments as part of the Military Flying Training System program," one executive here said.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said he could provide no details on possible T2 cuts as the department continues to explore a number of options. He dismissed suggestions the aircraft could be used to update the Red Arrows aerobatic team from the current T1 Hawk.
The previous government ordered 28 of the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers, known as the T2 in RAF service, in a controversial 450 million-pound ($733.5 million) deal with BAE, in part to keep the aircraft in production.
Now, with deliveries of the new glass cockpit version of the Hawk almost complete, focus is switching to exactly how many trainer jets and pilots will be needed after the Strategic Defense and Security Review last year axed the Harrier GR9 fleet and heavily reduced Tornado GR4 numbers.
Further cuts to the Tornado fleet are possible as the MoD attempts to nail down spending plans for fiscal 2011, which will require another round of heavy capability and program reductions to bring the department's budget into balance.
One MoD insider said the number of fast-jet pilots emerging from the training pipeline next year could be between 30 percent and 40 percent lower than the usual output.
Just how serious the pilot cuts are was illustrated last week when Defence Secretary Liam Fox announced that 170 of the 514 pilots already in the training pipeline would be dropped. The bulk of the reductions are expected to fall in the fast-jet pilot sector.
The cuts were part of a redundancy program that will see RAF personnel numbers fall by 5,000 over the next four years to about 33,500.
Army and Navy cuts are due to be detailed early next month. Some 17,000 military personnel are expected to be made redundant.
Eight, maybe more, of the new BAE Systems jets could be disposed of without ever having been used for training pilots, industry executives here said.
"The requirement is for about 20 aircraft, but we are looking at how we might keep other T2s occupied by offering training to foreign governments as part of the Military Flying Training System program," one executive here said.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said he could provide no details on possible T2 cuts as the department continues to explore a number of options. He dismissed suggestions the aircraft could be used to update the Red Arrows aerobatic team from the current T1 Hawk.
The previous government ordered 28 of the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers, known as the T2 in RAF service, in a controversial 450 million-pound ($733.5 million) deal with BAE, in part to keep the aircraft in production.
Now, with deliveries of the new glass cockpit version of the Hawk almost complete, focus is switching to exactly how many trainer jets and pilots will be needed after the Strategic Defense and Security Review last year axed the Harrier GR9 fleet and heavily reduced Tornado GR4 numbers.
Further cuts to the Tornado fleet are possible as the MoD attempts to nail down spending plans for fiscal 2011, which will require another round of heavy capability and program reductions to bring the department's budget into balance.
One MoD insider said the number of fast-jet pilots emerging from the training pipeline next year could be between 30 percent and 40 percent lower than the usual output.
Just how serious the pilot cuts are was illustrated last week when Defence Secretary Liam Fox announced that 170 of the 514 pilots already in the training pipeline would be dropped. The bulk of the reductions are expected to fall in the fast-jet pilot sector.
The cuts were part of a redundancy program that will see RAF personnel numbers fall by 5,000 over the next four years to about 33,500.
Army and Navy cuts are due to be detailed early next month. Some 17,000 military personnel are expected to be made redundant.
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