EAP86
Fully agree. The extract available is by no means complete and it isn't clear if all the issues apply to all aircraft; but it does say they were only identified after production commenced which is why I mentioned concessions and permits. My main concern is why so late in the day?
The dilemma faced by MoD procurers is that Controller Aircraft mandated 00-970 and the 05-series in all aircraft related contracts, but the Aircraft Project Director has the authority to deviate. He may apply engineering judgement. I can't recall those who held that position on Nimrod, but in the 90s MoD (a) appointed APDs who were not engineers, and (b) allowed non-technical staff below them to self-delegate, which led to a lot of conflict. We shared our 2 Star, the man with management oversight, whose job it was to assess the top 10 risks every month. This is why the Public Accounts Committee demanded his name at a hearing in about 2000. MoD denied knowledge of who he was; presumably both were unable to read the MoD telephone directory. Everyone in AbbeyWood knew, because he had just issued an edict that basic safety could be traded out in favour of time and cost, while making a declaration in the Release papers that the safety criteria had been met. Many jumped on that bandwagon.