" If they go down the Airbus or Leonardo route they will get half the required numbers, judging by the cost of the Polish deal. AceHawk seems to also tick the local jobs box as well, although up North instead of the traditional Yeovil location."
But Airbus and Leonardo will wave the flag - and they are the ones who shovel jobs and money around the scenery - they'll claim also that you need national design and production because you cant't trust people - Trump might return! And, TBH, the experience of "upgrading " old kit sounds great but has led to some of the worst cost overruns we'v ever seen