Minigun:
I am saying the 101s are an excellent maritime helicopter, so moving them all under the RN makes sense, and the RAF keeping Super Pumas .......their loss on that exchange.
Afghanistan in the summer. I struggle to think of ANY helicopter besides a heavy lift, half full, that was able to operate to specs in that environment. Ask any pilots that flew in that environment about how their helicopter performed. As a matter of fact no helicopters were specifically designed to operate at max gross anything in Afghanistan, at those DA's. The only aircraft that could manage were heavy lifters like 53s and 47s who could afford to trade off fuel or payload.
My original point was that no matter how much the RN may have wanted a maritime 47, its was never designed to operate for periods of time off a ship and the changes or modifications would be substantial and prohibitive. All of which would significantly impact 47 performance, reliability and cost. Its why the CH-53 family exists, and its why the RN wins in the 101 exchange with the RAF.