When is everyone going to wake up to the fact that the 'customer'; the MCA in this instance (like the MoD in all other instances) do not really have too much sway over the way these contracts run. Yes they perofrm due diligence w.r.t. finance and legalities; also other aspects of the procurement process......but the juicy bit, the pointy endy bit, the product end is always and will always be decidied by commerce. It is the contractor that will hold the customers hand and lead them into temptation, coax them into buying 'essential' this and future proof that. The customer has no way of outwitting the contractor in this regard as they have no SME in this area. This is why one ends up with a product that is modular/common/has synergies with other areas - it keeps costs down while enhancing profits.
The 92 to a lesser extent and particularly the 175 and 189 are all examples of government contracts in action.
Who in their right mind would either pay for a ground up designed SAR cab, or design a bespoke SAR cab. There isn't the demand. Far better to build a mainframe and then reshape it as and when the marketplace demands.
Cheap as chips.
Also don't forget - the government like these new technologies, it brings in new jobs, the new airframe is licenced in this country or parts of it are british built, etc etc and more people are employed. So yes the product costs more initially but down the line more people get jobs.
Swings and roundabaouts.
EG: If GB bought F18's instead of the new JSF, how many new jobs would it get out of the deal? NIL. Spend 10 times as much on a new fighter and you need all those new trades to service and maintain it, train with it blah, blah. Loads of new jobs. Unemployment drops, everyone is happy.
Oh, I nearly forgot - Long SAR won't have ANY military in it. No mil equals MASSIVE long term savings for the government. The old SAR mil pilots get 'absorbed' by the rest of the mil, so no job losses there and civvy street gets a huge surge of 'new' jobs. Unemployment goes down, government happy, government stay in power and repeat said process every few years.
Last edited by Thomas coupling; 19th Jul 2012 at 17:06.