Air Support to Defence Operational Training
The Air Support to Defence Operational Training (ASDOT), was a proposed programme whereby training in defence for aircrew in the armed forces of the United Kingdom would be provided by a civilian contractor. It was to include all air training undertaken under the umbrella of the Ministry of Defence (MOD); Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the Army Air Corps (AAC) and any units which came under the aegis of Joint Forces Command. The project was originally scheduled to go live in 2020, with training being folded into the programme when existing measures and contracts expired. The project was cancelled in March 2019 and re-launched in October 2021. Background The Fleet Air Arm Hawk T1 of 736 Naval Air Squadron were due to be phased out in 2020 and the ASDOT programme would then have assumed training for the Royal Navy. Additionally it was proposed that the Hawk T1 aircraft operated by the RAF's No. 100 squadron would be retired from their aggressor role in 2027, with the capability provided by the ASDOT programme. Cobham Aviation Services supply fifteen Falcon 20 aircraft to use in the aggressor and electronic warfare role for the RAF and the Royal Navy.