John, Military Commanders appear to be using "military risk" as a catch all to send crews to war in aircraft not having sufficient protection or combat survivability. You only have to look at recent history of Hercules, Helos and Nimrod to see this recurring theme.
What is the relationship between military risk and air worthiness?
Furthermore, "or to the general pubic over which such airborne systems are flown." This could prove to be the flaw in the argument. Breach of Health and Safety regulations and breach of duty of care are two areas where the MoD approach would appear to be wanting.