I had some knowledge of the AEW3 when I was at BD. To be fair to BAE, they were handed a poison chalice with that political animal. It was too small for the job and was forced to fly with the well known bulges. To be fair to the company it flew reasonably well but the main problem was the radar which its manufacturer knew full well from the start would be unable to cut the mustard. But "Hay Ho" it was a cost plus job wasn't it? Unfortunately it was a joint contract; had BAE had the lead on a sole contract they might have been able to kick some @rse and either had it cancelled earlier or produced a semi workable solution.