Defence PFI Smoke and Mirrors

HP Sauce, in Private Eye, joins the increasing number of voices warning of impending disaster with the Defence Budget noting "colossal" cuts which will be inflicted on the non-ring-fenced MOD.  The piece notes that MOD suffers more than any other area from crippling PFI bills and cites as an example the 27-year deal for air refuelling tankers (the Voyager aircraft) which could, of course, have been procured by cheaper conventional means.  The price of devolving "risk" to the contractor is a 27-year contractual straightjacket for far more capacity than our dwindling forces and commitments could ever require.  It is unlikely that MOD would be able to afford to terminate the contract even if they were willing to suffer the reputational risk that reneging on a contract would cause in the defence industry.  Neither should we be fooled by the current plan to lease 5 of the surplus tanker aircraft to a bucket and spade airline to use as holiday capacity since it is unlikely that MOD will see much of the revenue.  As for the airline in question, their business case takes some fathoming.  The Voyager aircraft in civilian configuration carries extra weight which must be carried around permanently at the expense of passengers and cargo.  Furthermore, because MOD may wish to recall the aircraft for its own use in a crisis, security of tenure of the lease will be much less than in conventional contracts.  Intriguingly, there does not seem to be a shortage of unencumbered A330 aircraft available for lease on the market, so why the Voyager?  Like Milo Minderbinder  in Catch-22 buying eggs for 7 cents and selling them to the mess hall for 5 cents at a profit, no doubt the mysteries of PFI accounting will provide a perfectly logical explanation?