L
212man - the situation you describe is destined to be repeated ad-infinitum.
The reason, in my view, is this...
Aircrew and Instructors know what we need. We understand training and operational requirements. Over the years, we have managed to get our fleets (I am talking from military-only experience) modded, and procedures developed, to achieve the task in the best way available within the current resources.
Now, along comes the accountant (the NAO in the case of MFTS) and he says ‘your training costs too much- we will go to industry for a cheaper solution’.
The vultures...sorry ‘contractors’ circle. They have one goal - win the contract. The reason the military are outsourcing is cost, nothing else. The contractors understand this. Their bids will be evaluated with a HUGE weighting on cost.
They know what they have to promise. They understand what they need to say their solution can do.
But above all they have only one goal- win the contract.
This is why Ascent ignored so much advice - it was an inconvenient truth. They must have known their proposal was smoke and mirrors, but they did not care -they had to win the bid.
And once they did, it’s job done.
Multi Pilots being trained at Bournmouth. Texan just started training years late. Hawks with no engines. Maritime and winching training still not being provided. Prefects grounded, Phenoms completely unsuitable for the task...but they don’t care. They have the contract.
The MOD has sadly sold its soul, and arguably the best flying training system in the world, to save money.
And here’s the kicker...MFTS, having destroyed any semblance of excellence in training, is more expensive than the system it replaced.
The old system was run to a standard, MFTS is run for a profit, and my goodness it shows.