Hangar 9 - maybe I'm missing your irony, but that is exactly what IS going to happen sometime in the next decade.
I think I must be getting dizzy with all of the spin that the govt puts out about the Mk3s
According to the National Audit office Report published last month
LINK HERE, the MOD claim that the Mk3 Reversionary aircraft will deliver the badly needed Heavy Lift Capability to the front line 2 yrs before the Fix to Field prog for the Mk3s that was cancelled last yr.
BUT, the capability will be less than that that would have delivered as the previous requirement was for "Special Operations".
So, the solution is to put Mk2 airframes through a modification programme to bring the Night Enhancement Package up to a suitable level. This essentially means ripping the analogue cockpits out of the Mk2s (yup - the same cockpits that they are putting into the Mk3 Reversionary project) and replacing them with a digital cockpit that was going to go into the Mk3s in the Fix to Field project.
So they are
- delivering the Mk3s 2 yrs before Fix to Field
- Starting a seperate programme to achieve the Fix to Field Capability (with attendant costs and risks)
- Introducing a further variant into service Mk2s, Mk2As, Mk3s and now the Mk2upgrade (Mk2Bs?)
And yet the National Audit Office report tries to convince us that by adding 8 Mk3 aircraft to the fleet and yet removing Mk2 ac from the fleet at the same time gives us more aircraft and provides value for money?
Who else can see the announcement shortly after the Mk3s enter service along the lines : " MOD announce fantastic programme to upgrade Mk3s with digital cockpit to provide enhanced capability for Special operations"
I obviously am missing something...nobody with half a brain would believe that this was the best way to do things...surely?
