...an aircraft for use by the Royal artillery hasn't been used in a campaign with no use of massed packs of 105s or MLRS.
Watchkeeper is not an Airborne Observation Post (AOP) for the Royal Artillery (RA). It is intended to be ISTAR platform for use at Battle Group level and above. The main reason the RA are the custodians of the capability is they have over 50 years experience of operating battlefield (dumb) drones. Helmand might not have required heavy Artillery, but it certainly needed as many ISTAR assets as were available, and Watchkeeper never even made it to the subs bench because it was late.
The discussion isn't really about debunking the Guardian's assertion that Watchkeeper hasn't been flying operationally, it's about asking why we are always prepared to accept late, under performing, and over budget equipment despite 25 years of promising "Smart Procurement".