The Mk128 also incorporates simulated weapons and a digital video recording system. The radar display and simulated weapons of front-line aircraft are achieved without the costs of expensive hardware and the digital recording system allows the pilot to replay his mission in a debrief facility. Also installed is an autopilot to comply with a future Government regulation requiring all aircraft that use UK commercial airspace to be so equipped.

The Royal Saudi Air Force Hawk Mk65s have achieved 100,000 flying hours since entering service in 1980. The Hawks are used for fast jet pilot training and by the RSAF Saqoor Saudia aerobatic display team which last year won the international aerobatic display team contest in the United Arab Emirates where they beat sixteen teams from Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The Royal Australian Air Force's 33 Lead in Fighter (LIF) Hawk Mk127s are being upgraded by the installation of the Tactical Weapon Systems Training System (TWSTS). This system allows the Hawk to emulate the radar signal from a 'hostile' aircraft or missile thus, for instance, allowing two Hawks to simulate an attacking force of a Mirage launching an Exocet, one Hawk assuming the radar identity of the Mirage, the other carrying out a fast low pass of the target vessel. This enables the Navy to exercise all the ship defensive systems.

The Hawk radar system can also be programmed so that control and display functions are the same as, for instance, the RAAF F/A-18s allowing pilot radar training at much lower cost than if the F/A-18s were used. The RAAF plan to keep their Hawks in service until 2025 so future upgrades could introduce Joint Strike Fighter simulation