"Ownership" is an interesting concept these days.
Do the Chinooks "belong" to the RAF and if so, why? Is it because they are flown (predominantly) by the RAF? Or because the DDH is RAF (the ODH is rotational)? Perhaps because the RTSA is RAF? Or just because they have RAF painted on the side?
Do they belong to the Army because the Army pays for them? Certainly the Army is paying for the replacements (out of money voted to it from the Centre). As AirSound points out, the JHC is tri-service, which is to say it employs personnel from all three services, but it is "owned" by the Army (in that the Army pays all the bills). So the decision to retire any Chinooks must come from the Army, does this infer ownership?
A similar set of questions could be asked of the Lightning II force, but I won't!
Nick
Last edited by Nicholas Howard; 23rd Mar 2021 at 14:53.