Although this is old news, I suspect very true. I’ve no doubt Dave and his crew are looking closely at a great many programs with a view to saving money.
But regarding the ear bending, can you imagine the public outcry - not to mention the ensuing onslaught by both the Pinkos and Republicans alike - were Dave and his elected parliament (rubber stamped by the Queen) to terminate the (then) preferred solution for the SAR-H PFI at the behest of HRH.
As such, he was never going to be able pay too much attention to any opinions whispered in his shell like from this particular source.
Hopefully we should know soon in which direction this program is heading.