1) Crisis may be a bit strong, but they've struggled to fully man No.IX Squadron, I gather, and I also understand that there's a shortfall of pilots across the force. I don't know if that's down primarily to retention, or to the output from Ascent.
2) The US COCO adversary solutions all use ancient aircraft types and have an over-reliance on the Experimental certification/registration process. It's unlikely that such solutions would meet UK airworthiness standards, while there would not seem to be a sustainable source of aircraft that will meet both the requirement AND the likely cost constraints. Isn't that why ASDOT died a death in the first place?
I heard an eye-watering hourly cost figure for even HHA's Hawker Hunters - if accurate it's hard to see how owned and amortised Hawk T1s would work out more expensive.