Work on the SR.177 continued for a little longer, however, in the anticipation of continued interest from Germany. In September 1957, Aubrey Jones, the Minister of Supply, was keen to support the programme and had agreed to continue funding development of five of the six prototypes. However, according to Wood, the SR.177 was subject to political in-fighting between Aubrey Jones and Duncan Sandys, the minister who had been the prime advocate of the Defence White Paper. While Jones assured German officials that the SR.177 project was continuing, Sandys contacted them to inform them that the aircraft was effectively dead. These mixed messages led to considerable confusion and apprehension within the German Defence Ministry. Further difficulty was added when, in response to lobbying by Rolls-Royce Limited, the German government insisted that the Rolls-Royce RB.153 engine be used in place of the Gyron Junior, causing Saunders-Roe to work on a further hasty redesign of SR.177.