No 100 Squadron laid down its sword as an operational RAF unit on March 24. Joe Campion reports on the final year of the unit’s Hawk T1 adversary air operations
The future of the Royal Air Force’s (RAF’s) BAE Systems Hawk T1 fleet was cemented when the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) released its Defence Command Paper – aptly named Defence in a Competitive Age – on March 22, 2021.

The report, which was published as part of the UK government’s wider Integrated Review, highlighted that the RAF “will retire equipment that has increasingly limited utility in the digital and future operating environment. This will include rationalising older fleets to improve efficiency, retiring Typhoon Tranche 1 by 2025, and Hawk T1.