Kryten
Warrant Officer
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The thing to remember about TSR2 was that when Wilson and Healey scrapped it they said the country would save millions buying the same number of F111s. Except the F111 turned out to be a bag of w**k, with endless delays resulting in massive cost hikes....
In terms of BAE, though - the only reason BAE Systems exists is that the MOD over the years insisted on mergers because it didn't have enough contracts to keep all the companies going. Think how many aircraft manufacturers there were after WW2 - and look how many survive now. If BAE have a monopoly its because of successive Govts. And if you look at the news when was the last major export order for Typhoon outside of Saudi, or Hawk outside of India? There aren't any - because BAE is struggling to compete in a fiercely competitive market.
In terms of BAE, though - the only reason BAE Systems exists is that the MOD over the years insisted on mergers because it didn't have enough contracts to keep all the companies going. Think how many aircraft manufacturers there were after WW2 - and look how many survive now. If BAE have a monopoly its because of successive Govts. And if you look at the news when was the last major export order for Typhoon outside of Saudi, or Hawk outside of India? There aren't any - because BAE is struggling to compete in a fiercely competitive market.
