The Merlin Mk3 does show the long-term effects of short-term Deefence thinking. When originally coming into service, the Mk3 was planned to equip 28 Sqn, a flight on 72 Sqn in NI and possibly 84 Sqn in Cyprus. The Mk3 is a compromise in some ways, but it also pays the weight penalty of incorporating 1980s thinking in triplex redundancy. However, it does a brilliant job within the design constraints and has strengths. We could revisit the concept that we should have gone with more Chinooks and the WS-70 Blackhawks, but that is now ancient history.