The complete lack of interest towards mission system testing in particular.
Did the contract include this? Of course, it should. But, the MoD(PE) / DPA senior staffs of the day (96-on), especially the 2 Star, were quite adamant – such “nice to haves” should be ditched if they compromised cost and time. The likes of AMSO/AML had already decided this in about 1990 and set about dismantling the infrastructure to facilitate it. This left many MoD(PE) projects high and dry, requiring years of Risk Reduction to stabilise projects, when costings and the approval to proceed had been based on the assumption that AMSO/AML would do their job. (Never assume, never believe what you’re told, always confirm first hand; especially on a programme dependency to be delivered by MoD. MRA4 is a classic example. It required AML to deliver an airworthy MR2. Why assume they would when it was policy not to?).
The fact that not integrating and testing precluded the establishment of an installed performance and, hence, Release to Service, didn’t bother them in the slightest. If the contract did include this, it wouldn’t be the first time the contractor chanced their arm and asked for it to be waived, and came up trumps when some dipstick agreed. That is like handing over a blank cheque – again, something said 2 Star more or less insisted on (in fact, he placed this in writing in 1998 and was supported by his 4 Star, CDP). Not saying it happened exactly this way on MRA4 but this is precisely the ethos described by Haddon-Cave and umpteen audits before him.
How did we get into such a mess with the build quality of the aircraft?
That’s what MoD’s Director General Defence Quality Assurance is there to help prevent. Oh, wait a minute.
Not as simple as blaming MoD, “Procurement” or BAeS. The cancellation and the way it is being “sold” is quite clearly a device to deflect attention away from those responsible. If the Government came out and said it is down to serial incompetence and maladministration a public inquiry would be warranted. After all, we had a Public Accounts Committee report into Chinook HC Mk3, which wasted a pittance compared to MRA4. Perhaps that should be re-opened and Nimrod added to the agenda as an efficiency measure. After all, it would be the same 2/4 Stars who had to answer questions (not that they ever will). The protected species. They are not solely to blame, but interviewing them would certainly expose more detail about what happened than we’ll ever know through pprune posts.