I agree with bushranger, Good Morning Sir.
Experience not youthful energy should be what we are looking for, it is pointless to have the flashy new models on the flight line, if we lack the means to operate them. Also the flash models often will not do a good job as the less updated machine, because for many of the tasks involved the flash model is an overkill with a corresponding higher operating cost.
The best value for money we ever bought was the UH1 series helicopter, and I personally think they should have been retained, but upgraded to the latest series.
We should have a plan for both usage and procurement, as an outsider looking in, we seem to buy the flavour of the month, instead of what is fit for purpose.
My attitude is that if the US forces did not buy it, then we should look hard and long at whether we should.
Aircraft out of Europe appear often to be lacking in operational aspects and can be very expensive to operate.
I suspect that the RAF and other operators are going to find them very expensive to operate, hope I am wrong.
Regards
Col