Hi Dan! One of my really exciting tasks in my 6 weeks as S/L (Air) at MPA was to attend the 'Theatre vehicle liability meeting', chaired by some pongo REMF Lt Col. Although the VC10K was tits-up and was a 'wargoer only' at the time, I mentioned the state of the 1312 Flt vehicle and the fact that some of the permanent staff were swanning about in LWB Landrover station wagons.
"There has to be some expectation appropriate to rank and status", he waffled, attempting to explain why he drove around in such a vehicle. My Boss had already swapped his station wagon for a normal 5-pot Tdi from 1435 - and to allay any accusations of self-interest I refused to have my ancient heap replaced whilst 1312 was still allocated the rotting old wreck which you and I recall. One day on a scramble the thing slowed down when the driver changed up to top gear as it couldn't cope with the runway headwind!
My recommendation was that 1312 should be allocated a brand new Landrover Twin Cab. But I went back to the UK a week later, so I don't know what the final result was - but I can guess
Jackonicko , just how long do you think that
an open, proper and rigorous consideration of the alternatives would take in this day and age? No doubt the usual BWoS spin and bluster would be much in evidence. Airbus missed the boat when they failed to take the A310 AEW&C (partnered with Raytheon and ELTA) beyond a brochure proposal; GlobalEye only flew earlier in the year and has half the number of mission consoles and a much smaller crew rest area than the GlobalEye:
Just sign up and get on with it!