Originally Posted by Bluntend
I agree, what is more likely to happen is negotiaions with Industry will take place whereby the MOD will ask for what they want and industry will reply with how much that will cost. Because it will cost more than the MOD can afford, things have to be shaved off here and there. As a result rather than get the all singing all dancing 'solution', you get something that is barely better than what is already in place, at a cost, and probably late. The Adour Mk 106 'upgrade' is a good example of this.
You've hit the essential point here. Looking from the outside in as I do these days (thank heavens!) everything points to MOD being utterly bankrupt. There simply isn't the budget available to buy even the essentials, and it's high time those with 3 and 4 stars said so very loudly upwards. I think taking hard steps like that with difficult messages is what is (or used to be) called leadership. All the chair shuffling and searching for economies costs money, too - and it doesn't buy so much as a bullet or a boot, let alone a CVF, MASC or any other future capability.
