“No documentation” and “no configuration control” were major contributory factors in the deaths of many of our UK servicemen
Not just in the UK.
What I'd want to know is what work the company charged with stripping, inspecting, making good, rebuilding, testing, trialling our 3 aircraft has to do to achieve this; especially the making good bit.
Overhaul at the depot level which is combined with a conversion/reconfiguration requires massive documentation. I think what you refer to is in all of those boxes. If it isn't, trouble ahead.
Then, given the airframes are 50 years old, I'd want to know if the standards and materiel from 50 years ago are still applied (or CAN be applied) and, if not, what DIFFERENCES there are, how to record them, make sure they actually ARE recorded, and WHO will underwrite them.
I read this as "configuration changes made in the process of getting them over to the RAF customer." Did I understand you correctly?
Because, those differences, even just one (and there are probably hundreds) constitute a major risk to a programme that was predicated upon buying the exact same standard as the US (which is what MoD announced in the beginning to allay these fears).
So long as the
configuration record is sound, I'd reckon on the MoD staff being able to reconcile. That, however, isn't always as simple as it sounds.
I understand one of the stumbling blocks is in the maintenance - How can you guarantee that the replacement parts match the original items the safety case was drawn up against?
Access to the drawings, which can get tricky when one deals with vendors, subs, qualified vendors, and such. They either conform to print/spec or they don't. If access to the drawings and specs is not part of the package ... oh boy, a few more pounds (add zeroes to the right as necessary) will be needed to get that included. (I hear that the term "contract modification" causes some program managers to become apoplectic
).