MM4 - glad you like some of my ideas!
As for MFTS I suspect the whole concept is something that was dreamt up by Consultants, on the premise that it would save £Xm by Y date, based on a set of assumptions that were (a) probably incomplete or flawed and (b) are now no longer relevant. Of course, anything that allows a recap of the training fleet (RW/FW) is a good thing but if that comes at the expense of both capacity for surge and quality of output then it's a bad thing. Fundamentally MFTS feels like one of those vanity projects that needs stopping and a more incremental approach be taken. Is DHFS broken or prohibitively expensive? Are the AS355 and AB412 really knackered or unfit for purpose? If not I'd be tempted to leave both well alone for now. For FW then I see some merit on consolidation at Valley/Mona - I've seen Valley operate at a considerably higher tempo than it does now and it coped just fine; I'm sure Mona could handle much of the BFT circuits and bumps traffic leaving Valley to handle the AFT. My main concern with MFTS is the further erosion of Service input; on a spreadsheet to an accountant it makes sense but how do you surge (to support Ops or increased trg throughput) with such a thin veneer of light blue? What happens when the pipe of (cheap) ex-mil staff dries up? It just seems very short-sighted to my simple mind. Not sure if that's exactly a "strategic" answer but its the best I can come up with right now!
Regards the Wokkas then, to me, the recent purchase of 14 (?) HC6 was a classic example of reacting after the horse had bolted - the additional frames were needed then not now! We seem dead set on avoiding boots on ground at all costs for the medium term so unless we revert to a Cold War type posture then I'd look to re-balance a little, stick the oldest ones in Shawbury and consolidate remainder. Where to? How is that achieved in a "cost neutral" manner that stops mass outflow of personnel? I don't even pretend to be in any position to comment authoritatively but let me have a go anyway! For a start we know that AAC/RN Wildcat will consolidate into Yeovilton so what's left for Wallop? Not a lot that couldn't be moved to Wattisham I'd suggest so why not make use of Wallop and/or Boscombe and vacate both Odiham and Benson? Geographically it isn't much of a shift and keeps the RW fleet close to the Plain, etc. As to the financial implications then that largely depends on the amount of investment required, but there's a lot of real estate at Boscombe that is seriously under utlilised and Wallop seems ideal as it is for Helo ops.
There you go - shoot me down!