Had BAe possessed the foresight and will they certainly could have retained a number of civilian projects and the 125 and 146 are prime examples.
But, BAe must have felt compelled to add their contribution to keeping alive that British tradition of coming-up with fairly good ideas .. and then letting them go!
In the case of the 125, as we know, this went Stateside and the latest incarnation of the Hawker, the 4000, is currently set to lead the field in its class.
The 146 was/is an amazing piece of equipment and possesses truly startling shortfield performance. In one case it was the only jet aircraft capable of meeting my client's operational and performance requirements. The 146-type market remains viable in Asia and much of the developing world but .. as PFR states, they should have developed a twin variant.
BAe received numerous requests to develop a twin-engine 146, I know because I was one of those banging the "drop two engines" drum!
I had to chuckle when Antonov picked-up the 146 baton even going so far as to rename their project (in a winking tribute to BAe) the 148. I do expect the 148 to forge ahead and become a success.
'The 146's Spiritual Successor' - Ukraine's AeroSvit Antonov An 148-100B UR-NTC taxiing towards runway 35R at Milan's Malpensa Airport on 11th September 2011 (Photo: Michael Eaton)