The little pension handouts they gave out, at least in 2003 and 2004, included a series of tables of years served vs value of pension accrued. This information has always been available, although it took a bit more digging to locate in the past (you can probably fine it on line these days!). There was one table for pension value on 'normal' retirement, and a separate one for retirement on PVR terms. The values in the PVR table were less than those in the 'normal' one, with the difference between the two decreasing until there was none for those PVRing at 50+.
While you might not agree with the morales/ethics of this issue (and Southside was very sympathetic as usual!) it is well publicised. As to whether the difference between the two is the size you indicate I couldn't comment at the moment, not having the relevant information readily to hand!
While this is not a personal criticism, but rather an overall observation, this thread, and many comments on the threads on the new pension scheme, do seem to highlight to me how little many serving military peronnel know about their own pension scheme/value. In almost all cases the information is available put there!