The engineering of the mil SARForce (with the exception of 771) is going civilian over the next year with 78 Sqn in the FI the first to change. Augusta Westlands in partnership with Vosper Thorneycroft will provide the same aircraft availability (if not better according to their team) as exists at the moment - ie a first standby aircraft 24/7 and a second standby for a minimum of 80% of the time. To provide this they will have 4 shifts of 5 engineers including a shift boss and one Flight Manager.
This highlights that the military aircraft are over-serviced since a civilian company requires almost as many engineers as the military have used and a lot more than a civilian SAR flight.
But the comparison is still of oranges and apples since the military aircraft fly far more hours, especially on training ( approximately a 4 to 1 ratio for RAF SAR flt to MCA SAR flt).
This is one reason a civvy SAR flt looks cheaper - they just don't fly as much - it's not rocket science. And they don't have to hold a second standby aircraft.
When all the engineering is civilianised will people still be trying to claim that mil SAR is expensive? Yes, but only because they don't understand SAR.