Yes, sorry about that. But racial stereotypes can be so tempting, can't they?
I get fed up with blanket condemnations of BAE and with silly claims that they've never done anything right since the Sopwith Camel, or whatever.
There is plenty to condemn BAE for, whether it be technical cock-ups, delays, or inflated pricing.
But when the company is never (or seldom) actually made to pay for its mistakes, and when the customer refuses to act as an 'intelligent customer' simply giving all work to BAE, without assessing the cost/risk involved, then perhaps BAE should not shoulder all the blame for everything. Perhaps the RAF is getting the industrial partner it deserves.
I wouldn't give the Harrier GR9 upgrade to BAE, after the experiences with Tornado GR4 and the Jaguar GR3A upgrades, and I wouldn't have let BAE get away with what it has done on the Nimrod MR4.
But BAE did a good job on the Jag, the Hawk, the original Tornado IDS, the EAP and (at least insofar as the airframe is concerned) the Eurofighter, and deserve some credit for that.