Guys
No point in willy measuring over the relative merits of Sea King and Merlin. The former was, and remains, a superb aeroplane, and I'm sure Merlin will prove a good replacement in the ASW role. Whether ASW is needed or not is another debate. I recall the argument for buying "only" 103 Merlin ASW (some reduction over the years, eh?) was that 5 would do the job of eight SK2s (at the time). Now there's the real problem - time. Having last worked on Merlin in 1987 (customer side!!) I assume the avionics fit (the heart of the platform) is somewhat dated. Certainly, some common elements of the SKW are a quite deliberate upgrade from Merlin, and if they'd get round to fitting modifications which have been sat on the shelf for at least 3 years, so would the SK4's.
As for Sonics, an old observer colleague once offered to fly a Wx 3 (Sonar 195) against AQS902G-DS (SK) to prove that it was the man / experience that made the difference. No one doubted him. Todays quiz. What system has been PROVEN to give 70+% increase in sonar detection range for £800 (eight hundred), whereas millions (millions) are spent on getting 2%????? And if you had that improvement, would it weaken the case for Merlin's "new" sonics system. Even if it didn't, it would set a hell of a benchmark. One assumes getting inside the enemy's decision cycle by a factor of 70% is what it's all about?