It almost seems like part of the NPAS vision is to eliminate the rotary fleet outside of London or at least drastically reduce its size. Are they planning to primarily use drones, supplementing them with fixed-wing aircraft for searching large areas or extended endurance? I seriously cannot imagine why else procuring new aircraft seems to be making no progress after literal years.
It's astonishing how often some bases are completely offline due to a lack of available airframes that are not undergoing deep maintenance, even after reintroducing POLU into the NPAS role and colours. BHX has been offline for an extended period while POLJ is in maintenance at Oxford, and Hawarden has had no aircraft consistently for months, with fleet spares occasionally filling in. I'm almost certain Bristol was without HEOI for a considerable period as well. In its current form, NPAS seems unsustainable. It would be interesting to see their response to a Freedom of Information request about how many NPAS requests were declined due to no available aircraft. However, I imagine they might withhold that information for various reasons.
I believe helicopters are a significant deterrent and are extremely effective in their role when deployed. I certainly feel safer seeing them out and about. It's a shame they are being managed so horrendously.