Type 83's description as a system of systems prompts a concern about what the program intends to deliver. The phrase can describe a warship's complex computing, but its intended meaning in government language is questioned here. The accompanying promise of revolutionary development raises concerns about time, cost, and the risk of cancellation before the intended capability arrives. Harrier supplies the example: it is praised as a successful aircraft while also described as a stepping stone to a supersonic V/STOL successor that Britain never developed. That successor was intended to be faster and have longer range. The concern is that spending on an intermediate stage does not guarantee delivery of the later aircraft or warship originally envisaged.
Notable Point · 19:00-20:35
Type 83 and the danger of revolutionary promises
Calling Type 83 a revolutionary system of systems raises the risk that Britain spends heavily on an ambition it later scales back or abandons.