WG-13,
I shouldn't worry about AW. If the VHX contract is anything as tight as the original Canadian Merlin purchase they'll do very well out of liquidated damages clauses, plus the US have paid the NRE for the improved Xmsns, blades and engines that the Merlin has always needed. AW will lose a bit of prestige, however they will benefit from an improved product for future export competitions and the MoD will benefit from a de-risked future growth path.
So, a little bit of short term pain (spun to shift most of the blame to Credit crunch protectionism / DoD Requirements creep / LockMart Project Management) then, hey presto, a new marketing campaign extolling the virtues of the "new" Merlin.