Originally Posted by
pba_target
I think this is the key point. Operating a fleet of 4/4.5 gen aircraft has a minimum cost associated with it, regardless of size (hence the normal rationale in SDSRs past of chopping entire fleets rather than half of 2 separate ones). If there's no confidence that the MOD has any willingness to spend money, who is going to stump up the cash to run a small fleet?
If your business plan is "we'll start small, and the customer might possibly love us so much they'll pay for more" with all the above evidence to the contrary, that won't make it past most company's boards I'd suggest, especially when the cost of entry, regardless of how small you aim, is inevitably relatively high.
Possibly a bigger company like Draken could detach a small sub-set of aircraft to the UK, but the red tape involved would be massive even though they've already got all the other kit to support the jets (noting they'd probably be reticent to deploy a lot of that overseas). In this we're not helped by having the Atlantic between us and a major consumer of red air!
It’s a good job the likes of Draken and similar companies don’t have boards to please! Makes life easier. I still standby my methodology of leasing something like Gripen, minimal profit generation and then grow the contract. If it doesn’t work, toss the keys back to the lease company.
As you point out, the regulatory red tape would be too much for a small detachment to take place.
Interesting times ahead for sure. One thing that is apparent, the European and Middle Eastern aggressor market is there for the taking.