"I do hope that this is a waste of private money"
Why? Were you disappointed when the Pred/Reap proved very effective on Ops as it didn't have a man in it, or, indeed that the world was proven not to be flat? If this was Govt funding and taking cash away from more mainstream capability I'd have more sympathy. The joy of Capitalism is that people can choose where to spend their money (wastefully or otherwise). We bang on on this website about a lack of innovation and the demise of the UK aircraft industry; here's an example of a company bucking the trend but because it doesn't conform to conservative established opinion it's trashed.
Wishing them ill is small minded, rude and frankly unpatriotic. I hope it does well, sells well and returns a handsome profit. If it doesn't, then those that have invested have lost their stake - caveat emptor. It's not like MRA4 leaving a 10 year capability gap and several £Bns of public money behind it.....
Sorry, bit of a rant.