Not really sure what Ainsworth is going on about. It was fairly obvious what brought XV179 down, at least, anyone who heard the evidence at the Inquest would have a very good idea. The threat from the suspected weapon has been around for donkeys years and was a threat to any aircraft being operated at low level without fuel tank protection.
This threat was highlighted at the beginning of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and senior officers did absolutely nothing with the knowledge. Just used the cop out of "military risk" to send the boys to war, but worse still, did not even inform frontline aircrew of the risks they were taking.
We can bail out banks to the tune of £100Billion so I won't lose any sleep if financial compensation now comes due to the families. Actually, as Flip states, the severity of the cost to the `MoD and the severe mauling its reputation has taken over Nimrod and Hercules already, might well change the philosophy of failing to equip our soldiers to an adequate standard. If you like, the opportunity cost now got much greater..
In answer to how far back this might go, well we are talking about the HRA, only signed up to in recent times. Without doubt there is a downside to all the legal action, but faced with the economy of truth, lack of accountability, obfuscation and political interference, I don't blame the families one iota for taking this route.
In fact, I wish them luck.