"I also heard they were looking at a sytem for the rear of the 145 to enable the a Police sniper to operate from, Anybody else heard this?"
Uh-oh!
This is the worrying part. I hope they aren't proposing a sniper, firing single, aimed shots from a vibrating platform, out in the open and affected by gusts, operating against what sort of threat?.......... Any number of terrorists armed with AK-47s or similar, firing automatic bursts from behind cover?
Count me out, thanks - been there, trained for it, but extremely glad I never had t odo it for real. Even at night the helicopter presents a comparitively easy, if not a "sitting" target. It's a big risk and I hope they consider all options to minimise it.