Jungliebeefer - is it unreasonable that the Service who has been the main provider of UKSAR helicopters, views it as a primary role instead of secondary, has more SAR aircraft, crews, equipment and completes more SAROPs every year - has a claim to be the best?
It is a question of ethos and those of us in RAF SAR believe ours is unrivalled - our commitment to training (that element of SAR which detractors say is gold-plated and too expensive) stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Now it is fair to say that 80% of SAR jobs can be done without all the bells and whistles - hence the belief that SAR can be done as a secondary duty by pretty much anyone with a helicopter.
It is the other 20% which are on a sliding scale from slightly interesting to F*** Me which need the right crews, equipment and above all training to perform safely and efficiently.
Unfortunately it looks all too easy to design a a UK SAR system for the future which looks cheaper because much of that 20% is conveniently ignored.