Trying to drag the thread back to somewhere near where it started!.....
"The contract, known as ATTAC (Availability Transformation: Tornado Aircraft Contract) will provide guaranteed availability of Tornado aircraft for the RAF"
I don't know what type of 'guaranteed availability' was agreed in this contract!!! At the last count, there were over a dozen aircraft out of hours, sat gathering dust at the Northern Tornado Base waiting for a slot at this wonderful facility. One of which is not 'booked in' until August 08!
Guaranteed availability for ground training? Towing practice? Spotter visits? Certainly not for flying duties!
Yes, the facility at the Southern Tornado base is new and, in the words of a local Engineering Officer 'not quite up to speed yet'; but yet again the RAF seem to have let a contract that already has us balancing on our back foot.