SS I hope you don't get a reply on here
I know 51 have opened up a little, but seriously!
Think we have 7 E-3D (one is a little bent) and they were the last off the line in the late 80's? We got 7 to defend the UK and NATO from the entire Warsaw Pact, do we still need 7?
Plenty of Air Forces have only one or two platforms to carry out 51's role, and the RAF is half the size it was when we justified 3 R1s. Not sure we should be keeping enough just for exercises, a mixed fleet would give us the ability to deploy the required capability to most areas.