I agree that spares is what has let down current Lynx fleet and FLynx comes with a decent spares package and some form of long term servicing agreement is in the offing too I think. Merlin is overkill for the requirement, think small, fast versatile, small ships operations. The Army recconaissance role also requires something manoeuverable and agile, admittedly Merlin would be great for some of the command and control roles though.