LJ - I think you have made your views known before.
You have a point on the ISR side, although Mr Wood overlooks the fact that heavier-than-air UAVs undergo a startling increase in price as the payload goes up. That said, it is hard to compete with something like a Super Heron.
As for the transport mission: it comes down to operating and acquisition economics - and nobody has said anything about £400 million. The 50-ton Airlander 50 sounds like it operates on four PW127s, which will cost less than four PW F117s. The LEMV was designed and built on a $154m contract - not sure how much of that was sensors/mission systems, but they were included.
Last edited by LowObservable; 10th Sep 2014 at 22:04.