(b) Knowing that the normal SSR radar system was out of action why wasn't a feed taken from the SSR radar at Inverness airport? It is understood that positional data was taken from this system during the Service Inquiry.
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The data taken from Inverness SSR came off their own data recorder, not an MoD one as the Inverness SSR data was not feed into the RAF ATC tower for a whole host of reasons:
1. The Radar at Inverness does not belong to NATS or the MOD, therefore it will cost the MOD money to rent its use and for the Airport to run it at times that suit the MoD and not the Airport.
2. The Civil radar will need data link equipment that will provide a data signal that is compatible with the MoD system which is around 30 years old. If not compatible some form of data conversion equipment will be required at the MoD end, plus the data link equipment compatible with the civil radar. Equipment has to be procured, installed and a service support contract for the system has to be funded.
3. Communication link costs. This is the big one. The Radar has to be linked to tower by a dedicated continuous telecommunications link for the life of the system. The only reliable way of doing it is by land line. In this case you are tied to a single provider as it is they who own all of the telecommunications infrastructure on the MoD estate. Imagine what the cost of a five year long telephone call would be, because if the contract for the service is that long that is how long that single line would have a running call on it (plus line rental at commercial rates).
To give you a clue on how much it costs the MoD to rent the use of a civil radar, some of the contract costs are on the internet (I've no idea if this cost includes the rental and usage cost of the land lines).
https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-f...tract/1125982/
https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-f...tract/1193802/
In simple terms, its not cheap and not easy.