What you are seeing is the very definite change in direction after the departure of the last Director General (Rumoured to be related to the Egyptian P-40 situation) and the appointment of a new CEO with no military background, but a strong 'social history' CV.
Presumably the Trustees felt they needed to do something to make the Museum more 'relevant' to today's audience, hence the shift to look at the people as well as the equipment, and associate the equipment with the people who operated it.
I'm not sure I like it, but if it secures the long term financial viability of the Museum then we have to suck it and see.