ORAC,
The cash numbers are made-up how you wish IMO. Each and every FSTA costs £3,000 every hour of the day, 24/7, 365 days a year for the next 25 years before it turns a wheel. That is £72,000 per day that the aircraft is allocated to a task. Fuel costs around £3,000 per flying hour. Crew cost?????
I think we can guess the pol's have simply decreed "this will happen". Interesting how the "comms" and "defensive aids" have been largely ignored for decades.
OAP