As I keep writing every time this subject comes up....the only reason we ended up with Nimrod AEW3 was because the government of the day wanted a "competition" to keep the rabid unions quiet. Everyone knew that the RAF would get the E-3. However, they failed to recognise that there would be a snap election before the competition result was announced, and the subsequent Callaghan Labour government was so in the unions' pockets that they were not allowed to buy what was in reality the only contender. We therefore wasted close to £1bn (a lot of cash in the 70s/80s) in buying a British product that anyone on day 2 of a basic radar course would recognise could not work....and it didn't (huge problem with the antennae and the choice of PRF giving a low speed clutter notch that did not get rid of the clutter caused by the antennae). Please G*d that it doesn't happen again!!!!