TheSmiter,
And a happy new year to you Sir!
I am sure there was a big element of 'cheapness' in the decision, and of course this Air Force will ALWAYS choose the cheapest option (never mind quality/expected life of item blah) cheapest is best!!
However, I am still surprised that it is cheaper to modify what they've got rarther than build new from scratch. Maybe as the numbers of freamews needed were so pitifully small, it wasn't worth setting up a new jig for them eh?
I'm sure one of our MR4 friends will enlighten us though.
Kind regards
TSM