Nimrod MR4 - R.I.P

[Chris558]

What a waste of money it's all been, and a classic (Comet) shape never to return to our skies ............

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-n ... d-11565829

[DaveB]

I'm sure that soldiers returning from Germany will be thrilled at the prospect of being barracked at Kinloss

Oh hum

ATB

DaveB

[Garry Russell]

A lot of them are already flying.one has even been wfu after flying for a few years

Is that all wasted now........

TBH this is the mistake that they make with all type...trying to eek out new version instead of designong new machines up from scratch.

If they had done that it might well of been in service when it should have been, long before this.

[DarrenL]

Does anyone know the history of the airframes they have been using, or how old they are?

With the A330 looking like it will be the preferred choice as the new tanker I wonder why a martime recon version could not have been slipped in?

[Garry Russell]

from what I remember the fuselages are the only original parts.......the rest of the airframes is new

But it is a mistake to use a wing like that

They cannot alter the engine type without redesigning the wing......it's a totally wrong thing to be using a basic design from 60 years ago.

New build most of it may be but it is a very very old basic design.

[jonesey2k]

No matter how much I wanted to see these in service you have to admit the delays have been a bit of a p***take. I'm just surprised that it wasn't canned sooner, but what a waste...

[AndyG]

So do we no longer need a maritime recce platform - I thought Nimrod was going to be the all singing, all dancing multi-role platfom for the future?

[Garry Russell]

It was and the future was from a few years ago

They just waste so much

This is.it's there.maybe not finished but stupid to scrap it now.

Keep the project.but start now in designing an all new platform to take over ASAP which may well be ten or more years

Funny how the PM mentions times we were lacking stuff before as if to say it will be OK completely ignoring the fact the in 1939, and other times.....1982 was another....we were caught out.

He should look at those time of lacking as a warning not as a means to be complacent...........and all this when the country is actually fighting a war.

[Chris558]

I agree - The new Nimrod should never have been. Coming out of the cold war, did we really need it? We could have had re-conditioned Orion turboprops, or even a suitable version of an existing Airliner (A330) would surely have been cheaper.

As Garry says, the design (engines buried in wing roots) is hopelessly outdated, more costly to modify, and limits future engine upgrades.

BUT,When billions of pounds have been spent on something (which has gone way, way over budget) but is on the cusp of entering service, it's just too far advanced to scrap!

......I can see Russia stepping up and testing our now severely limited defence.

[jonesey2k]

I read somewhere that they already have been. Aparrently one of our Trident subs was shadowed after leaving port when MR2 was retired.

Of all the cuts I reckon this leaves us out in the cold the most. I'll sleep soundly in the knowledge that all our SSBN's have Akula's in tow...