StopStart and Leon J, I'm sorry that the "A" word has caused such a violent reaction, but the point I was trying to make is that the betrayal of the Armed Forces by the MOD is not merely down to the Senior Civil Servants. The "Service Chiefs" also loosely woven into the piece and identified as the other half culpable for the waste, both of blood and treasure, extend all the way down to 2* level at least. If they had stuck to their duty instead of their career paths the kit available would have been of proper quality and perhaps even quantity. Of course this goes beyond airworthiness, that is merely the area that I am familiar with, but Army radios also come to mind given the deaths of the MP's at the hands of a mob in Iraq, also the death of a young Army officer by a sniper as he moved into open ground to vainly get a signal in Afghanistan. These men were betrayed not only by the MOD but specifically by their own CoC there. That is the scandal.
PS Don't mention Airworthiness, I did once but I think I've got away with it....!