5F6B,
Correct, no reserve band for fg-related posts was indeed what we were thinking amongst other fairly unpalatable scenarios.
As for the 737 AEWC platform not being well thought of, I can't really comment, not my part of the ship, but our thinking was based around the principle that common base platforms would bring savings and synergies - the sort of thing that might appeal to bean counters and VVSOs faced with a decision of that or no capability at all - and that was the position we put ourselves in when doing our thinking - what would the 'enemy' (AKA Bean Counters) do?
One further assumption I should have added at the start of my list: the SDSR won't be strategic and will be based purely on cutting costs for short term gain at the expense of long term capability and sustainability. Again. And when you include that key assumption, then you can see how some of those ideas might appear at least plausible.