"Surely Reaction engines with their Sabre engines and Skylon
would have been perfect to invest in? "
Wrong. They set up a subsidiary in the US who built the first new wind tunnel in decades with DARPA funding (which they will be able to rent out as an asset) and to test the precooler technology up to the needed M5 transition temperature. The test campaign started at the inlet temperature of the SR71. They are now working on a full 20 tonne thrust testbed engine in the UK to fire up some time in 2021.
REL already had a taste of HMG's "help" with the £60m grant they got.
It was 3 years late and required they get a "qualified" airframe mfg with experience of M1 aircraft, who naturally had to be based in the UK.
Oh look, it appears you will need to bring in BAe. :-(
I bet they just can't wait for more government "help" like that.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
