The BAE Hawk 127s of 79 & 76 SQNs RAAF took over the maritime rent-a-threat role when the A4s left.
Ok but there are only so many and they have to do LIFT and Nav trg as well with only 33- airframes.
Wessex: Yes they shouldn't have gone in the first place
LJR: I understand the RAAF benifit from this kind of mutual trg. It has been very hard to get aircraft for any training activity in recent years (it may have always been this way-I don't know) and sureley retaining the aircraft would have provided value for money. I can think of plenty of training roles they could fulfil; CAIRS (VERY rare), 16 AD Regt, Dissimilar AC Trg as well as Navy support flight.
Too late now I suppose....
(RAN OFFICIAL)