As for returning the aircraft to Europe, IIRC the Hawk has a retractable probe for air-air refuelling- it is certainly IFR capable (not sure of how well it handles ice accretion, which would be the big threat on a long ocean crossing).
It is a long way over water for a single engine, and takes a lot of tanker time. It is usual practice to refuel within range of a diversion, so that if refuelling fails the receiving aircraft has somewhere to go.
With all these factors in mind, I suspect that by the time the Hawks were needed in Europe, the resources needed to bring them back would not be available. If they returned, it would be by ship, crated up- more likely they are still in Canada.
|