I guess this will mean a heli or Osprey derived AEW / ASAC in time to replace the SKs.
And how much will this cost us vs. an off the shelf purchase of E2s? I'm willing to bet a lot of money that it would more than eat up any projected savings from buying the B...
I'm also incredulous to the idea that the B is going to be any cheaper to fly over the longer term (I'm thinking bring-back capability and underestimated use of spares). Given LM's track record on both the F22 and the F35, I'm not expecting any of the 3 variants to be particularly reliable but the B, with all its current shortcomings, and technicalities just seems like it's going to be too advanced for our own good.