Some perspective of Tucano from the Shorts end of the Telescope. The idea was indeed to offer a cheap and cheerful aircraft for the competitive pitch being run by MoD. By offering a proven off-the-peg solution, many of the pitfalls of previous procurements could be avoided, which was attractive to the customer in terms of likely delivery and service reliability, as well as lower acquisition cost, whilst also being attractive to Shorts for similar reasons. The sense at the time was that although none of the candidates was completely perfect, Tucano was a strong contender. Throw in the fact that Shorts was government owned, and employment in the then troubled Belfast was in short supply, the scene was set. What could possibly go wrong?
The usual things basically. Change the required specification and keep on changing it as the contract progresses. Principal among the changes, and one Shorts consented to in their desperation to secure the contract, was a more powerful engine. Unbolt the old one, bolt a more powerful one in. Simples! And re-engineer some 60% of the airframe as a consequence.......
The contract was a financial disaster for Shorts, and hence for HMG. That the aircraft went on to serve for so long and so well is some consolation.