There has been discussion
here of the difference that having the Sea King AEW2 in service during Operation
Corporate would have made.
My opinion is that it would have resulted in better use of the Sea Harriers, prevented the loss of
Sheffield and probably the
Atlantic Conveyer. The land campaign would have been different with all those troop carrying helicopters that would not have been lost, and the
Sir Galahad tragedy would not have happened.
On other threads, mention has been made of studies into marinising the Chinook with folding rotors etc. Given that it is faster and has a higher altitude than Merlin, is pressurised (unlike V22) and has a large cabin with lots of room for equipment and crew, would a MASC platform based on a marinised Chinook not be worth looking at?
Back to the issue of the timing of main gate, will Blair announce it before he goes, or will Brown announce it as a present to thousands of Scottish shipyard workers?