A few points about the MPA (MMA) seedcorn.
First of all the return of service is 5 years back in the UK, although there are no doubt ways around it.
Secondly, be under no illusion that in a few years time seedcorn will represent almost (yes I did say almost) all the remaining RAF MPA experience. The number of MPA WSOps that have been made redundant is very large, and those over 50 will not be players in any future UK MPA venture. Likewise most of the non-pilot officer expertise, Nav and AEO, will soon disappear, either through redundancy, non retention at the 38/40 point or natural wastage at 55. The WSO school is also closed, and the trade is effectively dead.
Any future MPA crews (with the possible exclusion of some pilots trawled back from AT/RJ etc) will have to be recruited from the high street and trained by the "seedcorn".
As to seedcorn itself, it is something of a fig leaf, a ready answer for the minister to give if asked an awkward question. They are either already overseas, or about to go, no doubt planned to return in 2015. The scheme might just work if the UK orders "off the shelf" MPA (P-8?) in 2015 for delivery in 2018. That gives the recently returned seedcorn a couple of years to put together a training package, and start training the first crews.
However, given the state of the economy, and the fact that the current government has already been driven off its course for "balancing the books" by 2015, the chances of ordering new aircraft in 2015 must be considered to be extremely thin. If no such aircraft are ordered then the value of the seedcorn initiative must be considered minimal.
Still, it was a relatively low cost no risk option, but whether anyone considers it a serious endeavour is open to debate....