It's not ownership of, or an ability to change the source code that is the issue here (as some people seem to think). It's access to the source code to analyse it. Essentially, it is considered necessary to assure the safety of the aircraft.
Thor Nogson:
without the opportunity to examine the source code, would it be possible to confirm airworthiness of the aircraft before entry into service?
In principle, yes. In practice, it's likely to be much much harder (too hard?)
my question is whether it can be certified as airworthy?
Can the MOD just take the manufacturers word for it? Are they allowed to?
Possibly, no and no.
Two's in:
Ask someone how much source code the MoD owns for the US bits of the Apache - it's a round number.
As above, it's not ownership that's at stake here, it's access. But as you imply, the MoD has no access to the source code "for the US bits of the Apache". As a matter of interest, they did arrange access to the source code for the Flight Management Computer by a US company on their behalf.
pr00ne:
Isn't the software code proprietary to the company that developed it?
Does the RAF have access to the ALL of C-130J software code?
Does the US military have access to ALL of the C-130J software code?
Same questions can be posed for C-17, AIM-120.
Not sure of the relevance of these questions but I'll give one answer as a matter of interest. No, the RAF does not have access to C-130J software code ... but they did arrange it for UK companies acting on their behalf. This is despite:
I recall a conversation with a VERY senior bod in Lockheed-Martin about ten years ago who made it plain that even the US military didn't have a cat in hells chance of obtaining C-130J source software code from his company.