Originally Posted by
Not_a_boffin
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1. Analogies with buying a car are irrelevant - you're not buying OTS where models sell in millions, you're essentially asking Bugatti to design and build you a couple of hundred Veyrons only with tracks and a turret. From scratch - which means you have to pay. (Of course whether that bespoke route was the correct choice is a different matter.....)
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Not completely irrelevant. OTS reconnaissance vehicles (and other military equipment) were and are available. Ajax is a development of the ASCOD and plenty of other armies have 21st century 'scout vehicles'. The problem comes back to our unique statements of user requirements and desire for British design/manufacture. Both of which have been debated exhaustively on here.