Phoenix trashed in ST - alternatives?

[MarkD]

The Phoenix UAV was hammered in the ST (allegedly it's called the "b*gg*r off" due to its non boomerang qualities).

Article heavily favoured Predator (to my reading of it) over the Fire Scout helo and Israeli/French Fire Arrow.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-721708,00.html

Thoughts?

[soddim]

The real sting is in the tail of this article which points to the known shortcomings of Britain's defence procurement organisation. It is a wonder that we get any decent kit at all - most of that is probably by default.