The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has committed £372 million ($536 million) across four contracts for continued support of the BAE Systems’ Hawk advanced jet trainer. The contracts will support 700 jobs until 2020, the ministry said on March 28.

Royal Air Force and Navy pilots use the single-engine Hawk TMk1 and TMk2 jets for flying training before converting to fighters including the coming F-35B Lightning II. The five-year contracts cover maintenance, fleet management, obsolescence management and technical and engineering support at bases in Wales, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Somerset and Cornwall.

“The contracts to support these vital training aircraft are a boost to British industry, sustaining hundreds of jobs across the UK—all made possible by our growing defense budget and our £178 billion investment in buying and maintaining the best possible kit for our armed forces,” stated Philip Dunne, minister for defense procurement.

BAE Systems was awarded nearly £300 million to provide Hawk TMk1/2 in-service support and post-design services—work that will support more than 600 BAE and Babcock International jobs, the company said. BAE uses RAF Valley in Anglesey, Wales, as its main support hub.

“Currently we ensure that 95 percent of the Hawk fleet is available at any one time and we are confident in our ability to continue to deliver this,” said Peter Jones, BAE Systems head of Hawk UK availability. “Together with our service delivery partner, Babcock, we have managed to improve the level of support service offered to our customers and reduce the costs of their Hawk fleet.”

The MOD awarded a £79 million contract to Rolls-Royce for support of the Hawk’s Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour turbofan engine, with testing, repairs and overhauls taking place at RAF Valley and in Bristol.