Some very interesting replies here.... well kind of.
To the OP. If it is a C17, then it is likely to be an RAF one, but the USAF ones look identical.
We did initially lease three under a very prohibitive deal, which did not allow us to use the aircraft to their full potential. We have now bought those original aircraft, and also have purchased some new from the production line.
It is in the public domain how many we have, but a bit lesser known how many we would actually need!!
As for the Chinooks, a newspaper thinking they were found out by the army is only an example of ultra lazy and stupid reporting.
The RAF initially placed an order for 8 Chinooks for special forces use (as the army don't have Chinooks...unless you read lazy journalists stories).
The Chinook was to be based on a model already in use for U.S. special forces. As is nearly always the case with British orders of foreign kit, certain items had to be changed to fit in with British spec kit.
The MOD then decided on a 'glass' cockpit, which the manufacturer fitted. There were problems with the delivery, in which one aircraft was left outside and suffered damage.
Once the aircraft were delivered, they had to be evaluated for British use (even though they were already cleared to fly, and similar ones were in U.S. service.
It was then found that when the order was placed, the MOD had not asked for the source codes for the computer software in the aircraft, so they could not then be checked to be working as they should be. At this point politics kicked in, both in government and within the MOD.
The aircraft were left for a long time just standing around, and as with any British aircraft left around, they were robbed for spares. The British government never buy enough spares for any aircraft they buy, and so many aircraft never fly due to having spares/parts removed (many (lots)of the Apaches we bought will never ever fly, as they have been damaged beyond repair due to having parts robbed).
Eventually the need for more helicopters had gone well beyond a joke, so the government decided to fit an older cockpit equipment fit, and put this into the stranded Chinooks. At this point it is worth noting that the government announced a new order for these chinooks to the press (the second one saying we had bought 8 new chinooks). This involved ripping out the modern glass stuff, and fitting old fashioned stuff. This had to be done purely to allow then to be returned to service! Once the new chinooks were in service, they are being taken back out one by one to have .......a glass cockpit re fitted. This means they have been out of service more than they have been in. have been upgraded three times, and are roughly the same as when they were deemed unfit to fly!. The government have announced their arrival three times, and have paid three multi million pound bills for the same aircraft.
To make things worse, at the time we first grounded them the Americans were very short of the same model, and offered to buy them back from us! To which we said no, and just left them sitting rotting on tarmac (even though they would have been ferrying British troops while in U.S service).
These aircraft are now in service, and despite being three times the price they should have been, are equipped to the standard of the older models of RAF chinooks.
The Chinook design is 49 years old, and is a very good aircraft.......The same cannot be said for the MOD's ordering process.
