manccowboy,
The bl@@dy aircraft was overweight, years late and billions over budget. The whole project was a typical illustration of profligate British procurement incompetency starting with MOD(PE), and its oft-named successors, and compounded by British Waste of Space.
The fact that 9 airframes were, allegedly, on the verge of performing was too little too late to shore up a programme that has been a national, financial disaster.
As a Brit I mourn the loss of our maritime capability, but it has been driven by profligacy and, as ever, no-one will ever be held to account.