P2F, Maritime Style
The Airlines are full of the iniquitous 'Pay to Fly' (P2F) schemes, so why not adapt one?
It is a tragedy that so many highly-trained, experienced Maritime aircrew and engineers are about to be taken out of the loop. It seems to me that the crass decision to do away with LRMP will, in time, have to be reversed and a new platform put into service. It will need ten crews or so to provide for the first Squadron and the core of a new OCU.
So, why not keep ten crews, plus support personnel, and farm them out to NATO, the Australians and New Zealand. No expense to the host government, no replacement of host crews, just a reasonable amount of hours to be flown per annum on a P2F basis. The cost per flying hour should be reasonable, with skills and knowledge being maintained until they are needed back home. The main problem would be getting the pollies and the Fast Jet Mafia to accept the idea.