16B,
I've been on one aircraft dets several times now, and it works fabulously with 2 GEs and good Eng support in Lyneham. A big hairy bloke and a hammer can't fix most things though, otherwise the K would have more aircraft on the line than it does!
As for 'route queening' round the desert, you do the guys a disservice. They've been there for coming on 3 years now and have developed new tactics to fit the different capabilities of the J, the theatre it's in and the threat they're actually up against - and the engineers are still maintaining an almost 100% servicability rate.