Originally Posted by
Not_a_boffin
in particular the ability to supply GFX, which can range from providing assets to allow a contractor to provide a service (think Hawk T2 for MFTS) to something as simple as taking a decision in the timescale required. ...
The supply and management of GFE is a Service HQ responsibility, as they own most of it. (Each item in the inventory has a designated 'owner' who alone determines disposition, as well as being responsible for things like availability, reliability and maintainability, and managing mod programmes). But the posts that did this (CS engineers) were disbanded in 1988. (In the RN, as a result of the Hallifax Savings. Two 'L's, it's an L of a difference). The work defaulted to procurers, but their ability to do it relies entirely on having the resources. Perhaps most importantly, it is necessary for the Service (usually DEC) to formally appoint the project manager as the RN support customer, as he/she needs significant authority to manage this GFX. To put it bluntly, the companies ripped the pi$s.
Perhaps the most infamous GFX failure was MoD's inability to provide (x) airworthy Nimrod MR2s for the MRA4 programme. The day that was known, in 1995 at latest, was the day 'Replacement MPA' should have been taken literally. One could write a book....