AW.681, C-130, and the cost of a small fleet

Would the RAF still have bought the C-130 if Britain had acquired the AW.681?

Possibly not, but the result would depend on foreign orders and whether Britain could sustain the aircraft's support network alone.

Acquiring the AW.681 could have removed the RAF's immediate need to buy the C-130, but that outcome was not automatic. Foreign orders would matter because Britain might otherwise bear the entire support burden for a small national fleet. Nimrod is offered as the cautionary comparison for maintaining a specialized aircraft without a broad customer base. Export demand and long-term industrial support therefore belong beside performance in a transport-aircraft decision.