Hawk trainer crash prompts UK to ground fleet

BELFAST — The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) has grounded its fleet of Hawk T1 and T2 training jets after one of the aircraft was involved in a crash at RAF Valley, Anglesey, in north Wales.

The service said on social media that it has “temporarily paused” flight operations of both Hawk types and a “formal investigation” into the crash is in motion.

On Wednesday, shortly after taking off from the Welsh training base, both crew members of a T2 aircraft ejected from the jet, as it was then seen nosediving toward the ground and crashing near houses.

The service didn’t say what caused the incident, but said, “Both pilots are doing well … and expected to make a full recovery.” 

Addressing the UK space power conference on Wednesday evening, British defense secretary Wes Streeting said, “We’re investigating how and why this happened.” 

British defense firm BAE, which makes the Hawk, did not immediately respond to a request for comment today.

RAF Valley serves No 4 Flying Training School, which trains the UK’s “next generation of world-class fighter pilots,” according to the service.

As Breaking Defense previously reported, the T2 program has long been troubled by engine and support issues, however. “It’s the … pinnacle of our flying training, and we don’t get what we need from Hawk today,” Richard Knighton, then UK Chief of the Air Staff, told the Freeman Air and Space Institute in 2025. “We get about half of what we should get out of it.”

BAE did not comment on Knighton’s remarks at the time, but in January 2025 the company told FlightGlobal that it was “supporting analysis with customers around the world, including the RAF[.]”

The Hawk T1 is also used by the Red Arrows aerobatic display team, while a fleet of 28 T2 types support RAF and Royal Navy fast jet training, following a £450 million ($581 million) contract placed with BAE Systems in 2006.

In August, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) issued a request for information as an initial step toward replacing the two Hawk types. A host of competitors are likely to be involved in the tender process or have already signalled interest, including BAE Systems pitching the T-7A in collaboration with Boeing and Saab, Leonardo offering the M-346, Lockheed Martin proposing the TF-50 and Turkish Aerospace in position with its Hurjet trainer.