With all the talk of carrying out expensive mods and retraining RN pilots to fly the 26 Merlin Mk3s I've often wondered if it would actually be easier to integrate an SH mod into the Mk1s when they get their planned Mk2 upgrade. Admittedly it may be a bit awkward retro fitting a ramp but the Sea Kings have lasted the last 30+ years without a ramp. We have 40 odd Mk1s, RN crews are already trained to fly them (you will soon have to retrain them to Mk2 anyway so start filtering in the Junglie guys), they have blade and tail folding fitted and oh, did I mention we have LOADS of them?!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to lessen the job that the Mk1 guys do (especially now without Nimrod) but we simply won't have as many ships as we used to. Do we need all of them for the ASW role? Would it be possible to have a role fit sensor suite for the guys in the back and strip it out for Amphibious Ops? Would it be worth having say a dozen of them permanently stripped down for trooping just in case we do one day need to carry out amphibious ops again?