A small thought crossed my mind this morning - maybe "relevant" maybe not... "Purdah" is not meant to see events announced by the government that might be deemed to have an impact on the election, such as large contracts.

Now, the Boxer announcement "dodged" purdah by about 30 hours - but it needed a major statement by the MoD's PUS @SLovegroveMOD to the effect that it was a vital contract etc. TBH, I cannot ever recall a similar set of riders added to an MoD contract before.

But think: Boxer is to be built in Telford. Telford is a marginal Conservative seat (c700 vote lead, minute). And where was the Conservative Party manifesto unveiled? Telford.

The Conservative manifesto mentions two defence programmes - Type 31 (awarded after purdah set in, but with no MoD press release), and Boxer (albeit not directly by name).

To put it mildly, this all looks like more than a small coincidence. When things don't look good, they tend not to be.
Sure, purdah has been "broken" before for defence deals (1993 springs to mind), however...