Quote from Caledonian - "am l missing something, first flight, l thought these were old frames refitted not totally new???"
This is a popular misconception. There is very little left of the doner aircraft by the time they become an MRA4. In fact it is about 95% new build. Inside it is very 21st century with a totally different operating concept.
Personally I think the MRA4 looks the business. The MK2 always looked menacing when compared to the P3 and the new aeroplane looks even more so. Some of the lumps and bumps you see in the photos are for flight test and won't appear on the production aircraft.