I'm not sure whether there are any other defence companies who do this business that could turn out an ultra safe and current air platform, with the type of management processes being used today.
The complexity of modern systems, their integration, and the whole project management ethos, compete against it happening.
Changes that I saw happening on the MRA4 project, and the subsequent change in engineering direction, took sometimes months to happen. It was like turning a supertanker, painfully slow and cumbersome.
Every change that the PT kept making, and still make in current projects, screws up the whole process, sometimes requiring the engineer to have to go back to scratch. By the time a decision is made, some parts are obsolete, or have only a limited shelf life.
BAE are not alone in being late in delivery, and the lack of research and development, mitigates against rolling out any new project.
I loved my time on the Nimrod, and it is a great platform for maritime surveillance, but the a redesign of the whole aircraft, would surely have solved many of the problems. Crappy autopilot, over long flying control cable runs, fuel balancing linked to a poor C of G issues, too small a rudder etc etc
If it wasn't one thing it was going to be another, and I have a feeling it was going to go through several more problems, as it came into service.