So, having turned down Merlin 21 years ago, the RN..........
I wonder if this time they actually invited tenders for a FW solution? Lacking endorsed funding the procurers can only try to deliver what the customer endorses. Everyone seems to forget that most the ASaC Mk7 programme remains, to this day, unendorsed. Much of it was funded by tax (VAT) rebates, underspends, offsets and avoiding waste on other programmes. The achieved specification far exceeds that which the RN endorsed. Today's DE&S are pretty much hamstrung.