I'm not an accountant (nor do I ever want to be...), but I can appreciate some of their points of view.
How much is this kit really worth? It might have cost £4Bn to buy, but is it worth that now, and those costs have already been spent.
Take one of your £100,000 vehicles. It might have cost that, brand spanking new and gleaming in fresh paint from the factory, but now? It has been working hard, in harsh conditions, for several years, has a considerable amount of miles on the clock, and no doubt will need to be refurbished as soon as it arrives back in UK!
So what are the transport and refurbishment costs if we bring it back to UK, all further costs on a tight Defence budget, and what are we going to do with it, apart from put it straight into storage, when it gets here.
The £4Bn figure is headline grabbing and eye catching, but what is the reality behind the headline...?
Last edited by Biggus; 12th May 2012 at 11:34.