SARH is likely to become a little more political in the near future as some MPs are asking quite pertinent questions like 'Why were Portland and Lee given special protected status from the 'blue sky thinking'?" and "Why do we need to spend £3 -5Bn in the private sector on something the military already do 66% of within the current defence budget"
Gordon apparently wants to be briefed in full about the project and with the economy in tatters I would think he is likely to favour a cheap military solution (ie not £3-5Bn) rather than a private one.
3D the SARF is already providing people for OOA dets in sandy places so no change there.
As for the lack of aviation expertise in the MCA - they are going to call the shots on the 2012 contract which doesn't bode too well. The same lack of expertise is why they had to come to the military for advice for SARH.