Please allow me to clarify some of the issues raised above if I may. The radar can both scan the ground and provide small scale airspace deconfliction, the second of these roles is the mode it has been used in for almost all of its employment in Afghanistan (less a few specific scenarios). The removal of the FCR has been carefully considered by many deeply experienced people over the years and we have elected not to go that way. In short, it is very useful.
Without giving any specifics, the figures given regarding ammo loads and endurance are all very much out of date as the article was published nearly 3.5 years ago. Significant progress has been made on both of these issues.
It is fair to say that our lesson learned process with the Americans hasn't been perfect, they do some things very differently to the British military though and a degree of wheel re-invention was required. We do not fly around at 500ft over a contact for various reasons and have therefore been able to spend tens of thousands of hours over the green zone without losing an aircraft to enemy action.
Apologies for the lack of specific details, but OPSEC still very much applies.