Roadster, in the early sixties it was said the V-bomber cost £1M. It was our most expensive aircraft. Accounting for inflation that is now less than £40 MILLIONS. Now I don't know how much the Defence vote has increased in that time.
I do recall around 1971 a VSO, possibly AMP, was appalled that the RAF Manpower bill accounted for over half the RAF Vote. Which is more important? Could you draw an arbitrary division between manpower and equipment?
Of course not long after we were shedding lots of transport crews -Beverly, Argosy, Britannia, Comet, and then Canberra.