So 10 years to convert a perfectly suitable UAV (450) in to a more expensive UAV which is looking a bit dated and expensive compared to the competition.
ISTR about 10 years ago attending a brief where it was stressed that the most important feature was that it would be airworthy, and therefore able to fly over the UK. This immediately showed a complete lack of understanding of how to plan the future operation or appreciation of what UAVs could offer. All that time, effort and money wasted just to be able to train with it over the SPTA. A manned light aircraft with EO/IR, etc. would have made much more sense for the UK training, Norway had already been operating a light aircraft (MFI-17?) with EO/IR as a UAV evaluator for a few years.
Not convinced by the sensor configuration either, who ever devised it seems to have ignored a few major issues like being in 2 places at once and on board power from a small engine
Not forgetting the huge effort to deploy it to AFG and prove it was not late and really good, which must have diverted a good chunk of support away from where it was really needed
