I have no idea whether or not I'm right, unlike their airships, who are apparently convinced that they are right, despite there being no unequivocable evidence to support a case that is supposed to be proved 'beyond any doubt whatsoever'!
However, if I
did happen to be right, I sincerely hope that there
is someone out there in Pprune land who could spill the beans. If they're out there and don't want to risk speaking out themselves, I (or Brian Dixon) would be delighted to receive a Private Message giving details though, frankly, there wouldn't have to be many individuals in this 'Chain of Command' and the only people 'in the know' would be likely to be those who were actually part of that same chain. You have already mentioned that you are not from the MoD so, for clarification, although senior officers, Ministers and senior civil servants have Staff Officers, PAs and the like (the sort of people that I think you are alluding to), they would certainly have been left out of the loop in this kind of scenario. Instructions would have been passed on verbally behind an individual's closed office door, with no written record made.
Like I believe you imply, I think it most unlikely that someone will step forward to speak out, but that lack of disclosure would not prove beyond any doubt whatsoever that such a scenario does (or did) not exist. Hmmm, interesting parallel.
Regards,
MB