"Well Graham i guess when you go and buy a car you dont test drive it then ! Somebody else said it was ok so it must be
Of course we could just do as you say but we would then have to use only the kit delivered on the platform as we could not clear or use anything of our own and when our friends and allies wont give us a capability they want only for themselves what should we do ?"
When I buy a car I do test drive it, but I don't ask the dealer to take it through my own factory built to duplicate all the manufacturers testing, prior to purchasing and then tell them that its no good,at the cost to the taxpayer despite there being thousands of others already using said vehicle quite happily.
As we do not build our own platforms anymore (which is a whole other debate) one has to question why we as a country should have the arrogance to expect others to manufacturer to our particular needs when we as a country have decided not to build things ourselves.
The sarcasm in your answer belittles your answer but does go some way to illustrate quite clearly, why the T&E community is going to die out. In defiance of logic, economics and reality we in Blighty still believe that we know best. Economics suggest otherwise.
If we knew best we could build and others would buy - not vice versa.