Pinho,
Thanks for some enlightening comments which appear, succinctly, to precis the previous arguements ie:
1. The Merlin is a great pilot's ac, when it works.
2. AW Customer support can be awful.
3. It's too bl***y big to be a Puma/Wessex replacement.
4. It's too bl***y expensive to fly given its' pretty pathetic disposable load.
Ergo, back to basics: Dream world = CH47 capability & Puma size ac both marinised with good H&H performance.
Real World= Pork barrel politics, Service infighting & not enough cabs for AFG.
I know many an individual who was kicking around MoD in the mid 1990s. To a man they say that the Merlin was NOT the choice of the RAF or the Customer. The case for extra CH47s was repeatedly vetoed by the then Govt for purely political reasons. In no way does this take away from 28 the respect they've earned in SE Iraq, well done. But, the most important contribution has been to free up CH47s for AFG. If we'd bought the 35-odd CH47s that were on the table in 1995 we'd have plenty to go round..