Select committee: Defence Committee
Conclusion 12
3rd report - The Global Combat Air Programme
Published 14 Jan 2025
Addressed to Ministry of Defence
Defence Committee Future Aviation Capabilities All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Hawk trainer aircraft has been a UK defence export success story, but with domestic production lines closing four years ago the skills and manufacturing capacity which had built up over decades will prove challenging and costly to regenerate. We recognise that innovative training solutions, including modular aircraft and synthetics, may offer new opportunities for industry; but we find the failure to capitalise on the success of Hawk remarkably short-sighted and deeply regrettable. (Conclusion, Paragraph 82) Workforce and industrial capacity
From: Defence Committee, 3rd report - The Global Combat Air Programme (HC 598), 14 January 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 21 March 2025 (deadline 14 March 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's assessment of GCAP's importance, agrees with several recommendations, and does not give a specific response on the Hawk conclusion beyond saying alternative options are being assessed.
- On partners, it says the UK, Japan and Italy "are open to further partners", but that this "must similarly be driven by the needs of the programme and its agreed timeline".
- On delivery structures, it agrees that "an empowered joint delivery organisation will be essential", citing the 2024 treaty ratified by all three partners to set up the GCAP International Government Organisation.
- On costs and transparency, it says it "is committed to transparency to support proper scrutiny" and is "actively pursuing means to manage costs". The response does not commit to the multi-year funding arrangement the Committee asked it to consider.
- On Hawk, it says recent events led to an investigation, that "further investment will be required" for Hawk T2 to reach its 2040 out of service date, and that alternative options "are being assessed".