RAF RJ Flight Ops
I have it from knowledgeable sources that the RJ at Waddington will be flying within a couple of weeks. RJs will be "accepted" into the force.
The 'new' MAA rules are great for modern procured aircraft, but do not fit the program of aircraft built in the 1960s is the reasoning.
After all, the airframes had around only 19,000 flight hours as KCs and some of the RC-W models in USAF have over 52,000 airframe hours. Seems safe enough for all concerned.
Everyone in the UK hierarchy will 'declare' victory, the RJ will begin flying RAF ops, the SIGINT capability will be added back to RAF inventory and the world will return to normal.
A side benefit will be the end of this entire blog. We can all move on to something less bureaucratic and more interesting.