Who actually bought and paid for these gliders? Was it the MoD Procurement Executive?
The PE's problem vis-a-vis the RAF, or any other branch of the Defence (Offense?) community, is 'time span of responsibility'. RAF officers get a two year secondment to the PE so decisions they make seldom come home to roost while they are still in post.
I have experience of this as I worked for two blue chip companies in the defence procurement area and I could relate some tales here of mismanagement on a far larger scale than this gliders mess up. Pinning responsibility here may take some doing as well. Remember the civil servants in the PE are there to do the bidding of the service officers. This is how we sent soldiers to the Falklands with so much faulty gear that the beaches were covered with things they did not think worth carrying when they heard they were jomping to Port Stanley. I had a de-brief about that from people who were there.
The real problem we need to solve here is to get professional people (and only professionals) in charge of military procurement. Just because you have fired a gun does not make you an expert in ballistics or weapon sights!! Do the words 'Spitfire and 'Hurricane' come to your mind here?
The army did not know that they needed a new up to date image intensified night sight for the SA80 rifle. We knew they did, and designed one as a private venture, which went into mass production once they had seen the tests we carried out at the ITDU. And so on.
Does anyone have the answers to my question?