What JTO said above.... I think the ECHS existed only as a concept when we purchased the aircraft. I think I'm right in saying the Australians and Italians also have the -4A back end as do the USMC.
The hope of incorporating USAF airdrop systems also failed to consider the RAF/MoD's inability to just buy something off the shelf without first getting QinetiQ to reduce said proven system to it's constituent atoms, reassembling it slightly incorrectly with most functionality removed and then paying double for the privilege.
Slight thread drift but just imagine if we could actually just buy things
off the shelf.....
