Did the MoD waste GBP 800 million on Hawk trainers?

Earlier this year, the British govmt spent GBP 800 million on 20
Hawk Mk 128 trainer aircraft.

In a highly unusual step, the MoD's permanent secretary, Sir Kevin
Tebbit, refused to sign the contract because he thought it was a
waste of money. He only signed when his boss, Defence Secretary
Geoff Hoon, told him to.

Is GBP 40m too much for a trainer? Certainly, one can buy many
fighter aircraft for less. The Eurofighter's unit cost isn't much
more.

I wonder how much the Hawk Mk 127 costs? That's been widely
exported, so I guess it would be better value.

Could the RAF have been better off buying a different trainer, such
as the Aermacchi M-346?

I've written further on my blog about this; comments are welcome:
http://www.cabalamat.org/weblog/art_113.html

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