Crab, DH on the head of that nail...
Flynx (Wildcat) will be an excellent small ships flight helo, but the AAC version will be an expensive abberation. Why?
1. If the AAC need a "scout" helo it should be in the Squirrel/Fennec class, not the Flynx. Do they really need a "scout" anyway at the moment? Why have we spent nearly a £Bn on AH MTADS/MPNVS if we still need a dedicated "scout"? The role in Afg is already overtaken by a plethora of ISTAR UORs.
2. The AAC don't really need a "scout", what they want is a continuation of the corps structure to continue to feed enough non-AH 500 hr AAC majors into JHC. It also conveniently prevents the Colonel from having to get in a snatch landrover.....
3. As a small nation with limited RW budgets (as RW is not a core capability for any of the services) the Operational Analysis always tells you to buy the biggest lift platform you can. It is ultimately cheaper to use a big platform half empty sometimes than it is to establish and maintain a whole infrastructure for a new type (hmm, think Merlin Mk3 v Chinook...).
So in conclusion, what does Flynx (AAC) have going for it? Err, where it's built and that's about it..
However, despite all of the above, I'm actually glad the order has been confirmed. Why? Simple, this money would never have been recapitulated ( a la Commanche) into platforms we actually want (Chinook/Blackhawk/EC-725 etc) but would simply have been swallowed back into the treasury to pay for a tax break for some "well deserving" loafers at the next General Election.
So, better to have something than nothing. The bad feeling that I've got is that the Government are going to truly expect us to be grateful...