The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) T-45 Goshawk is a highly modified version of the British BAE Systems Hawk land-based training jet aircraft.

Manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) and British Aerospace (now BAE Systems), the T-45 is used by the United States Navy as an aircraft carrier-capable trainer.

Boeing (which had merged with McDonnell Douglas during 1997) performed the manufacture of the remaining elements of the Goshawk, as well as conducting assembly of the type at a production line at St. Louis, Missouri, after having transferred work on the program from the company's facility in Long Beach, California.

From December 1997 onwards,[4] later-built production Goshawks were constructed with enhanced avionics systems, which included the adoption of a glass cockpit and head-up display (HUD); as such, they were designated T-45C.

[13] Both McDonnell Douglas and Boeing have made multiple approaches to potential overseas customers, typically offering the Goshawk in the trainer role.

During the mid-1990s, McDonnell Douglas teamed up with Rockwell International to jointly bid the T-45 as a replacement for the Royal Australian Air Force's jet trainer fleet in competition against, amongst others, the Hawk that the type had been derived from.

[14] Marketing efforts to acquire export customers were intensified following a cut in the procurement rate by the U.S. Navy during 2003; according to Lon Nordeen, T-45 business development manager, Israel had been identified as having a potential requirement for the type.

[9] During late 2006, the company promoted the concept of an advanced variant of the T-45C Goshawk to Greece, emphasising its close compatibility with the Beechcraft T-6A Texan II trainer already operated by the country.

[15] During early 2007, Boeing VP Mark Kronenberg stated that the company had held discussions with the Indian Navy, which had an anticipated requirement for naval training aircraft.

By 2010, the US Navy was reportedly involved in the evaluations for the initiative, known as the T-X program and had been considering the merits of adopting the same airframe to meet its long-term requirements to eventually replace the Goshawk as well.

[17] Reportedly, BAE Systems, later in partnership with American defense company Northrop Grumman, has repeatedly held discussions with the USAF on the development of a new potential derivative of the Hawk conforming to their specific trainer needs, similar in fashion to the Goshawk for the US Navy.

[23] The aerodynamic changes of the aircraft, which were developed by BAe at their existing facilities in the United Kingdom, included improvements to the low-speed handling characteristics and a reduction in the approach speed.

The pilots cited concerns about incidents of hypoxia that they believed to have resulted from faulty Cobham GGU-7 onboard oxygen-generation systems.

[27][28] Over the past five years physiological episodes linked to problems with the T-45's oxygen system have nearly quadrupled, according to testimony from senior naval aviators in April 2017.