Development Hawker Siddeley Nimrod

1 development

1.1 mr1
1.2 r1
1.3 mr2
1.4 aew3
1.5 mra4

development

nimrod mr1 xv262 landing @ raf st mawgan in july 1981


mr1

on 4 june 1964, british government issued air staff requirement 381, sought replacement aging avro shackleton maritime patrol aircraft of royal air force (raf). such replacement had been necessitated rapidly-approaching fatigue life limitations accumulated across shackleton fleet. great deal of interest in requirement received both british , foreign manufacturers, offered aircraft including lockheed p-3 orion, breguet atlantic , derivatives of hawker siddeley trident, bac one-eleven, vickers vc10 , de havilland comet. on 2 february 1965, british prime minister harold wilson announced intention order hawker siddeley s maritime patrol version of comet, hs.801.

the nimrod design based on of comet 4 civil airliner had reached end of commercial life (the first 2 prototype nimrods, xv148 & xv147 built 2 final unfinished comet 4c airframes). comet s turbojet engines replaced rolls-royce spey turbofans better fuel efficiency, particularly @ low altitudes required maritime patrol. major fuselage changes made, including internal weapons bay, extended nose radar, new tail electronic warfare (esm) sensors mounted in bulky fairing, , mad (magnetic anomaly detector) boom. after first flight in may 1967, raf ordered total of 46 nimrod mr1s. first example (xv230) entered service in october 1969. total of 5 squadrons using type established; 4 permanently based in uk , fifth based in malta.

r1


nimrod r1 xw665 landing during waddington airshow 2009

three nimrod aircraft adapted signals intelligence role, replacing comet c2s , canberras of no. 51 squadron in may 1974. r1 visually distinguished mr2 lack of mad boom. fitted array of rotating dish aerials in aircraft s bomb bay, further dish aerials in tailcone , @ front of wing-mounted fuel tanks. had flight crew of 4 (two pilots, flight engineer , 1 navigator) , 25 crew operating sigint equipment.

only since end of cold war has role of aircraft been officially acknowledged; once described radar calibration aircraft . r1s have not suffered same rate of fatigue , corrosion mr2s. 1 r1 lost in flying accident since type s introduction; occurred in may 1995 during flight test after major servicing, @ raf kinloss. replace aircraft mr2 selected conversion r1 standard, , entered service in december 1996.

the nimrod r1 based @ raf wyton, cambridgeshire, , later @ raf waddington in lincolnshire, england, , flown 51 sqn. 2 remaining nimrod r1s planned retired @ end of march 2011, operational requirements forced raf deploy 1 raf akrotiri, cyprus on 16 march in support of operation ellamy. last flight of type on 28 june 2011 raf waddington, in presence of chief of air staff, acm sir stephen dalton. xv 249, former mr2, on display @ raf museum cosford, west midlands. r1 replaced 3 boeing rc-135w rivet joint aircraft, acquired under airseeker project; first aircraft delivered in late 2013.

mr2

nimrod mr2 xv254 @ steep bank while displaying @ royal international air tattoo, 2006

starting in 1975, 35 aircraft upgraded mr2 standard, being re-delivered august 1979. upgrade included extensive modernisation of aircraft s electronic suite. changes included replacement of obsolete asv mk 21 radar used shackleton , nimrod mr1 new emi searchwater radar, new acoustic processor (gec-marconi aqs-901) capable of handling more modern sonobouys, new mission data recorder (hanbush) , new electronic support measures (yellow gate) included new pods on wingtips.

provision in-flight refuelling introduced during falklands war (as mr2p), hardpoints allow nimrod carry aim-9 sidewinder missile counter enemy argentine air force maritime surveillance aircraft. in preparation operations in gulf war theatre, several mr2s fitted new communications , ecm equipment deal anticipated threats; @ time these modified aircraft given designation mr2p(gm) (gulf mod).

the nimrod mr2 carried out 3 main roles – anti-submarine warfare (asw), anti-surface unit warfare (asuw) , search , rescue (sar). extended range enabled crew monitor maritime areas far north of iceland , 4,000 km out western atlantic. air-to-air refuelling (aar), range , endurance extended. crew consisted of 2 pilots , 1 flight engineer, 2 navigators (one tactical navigator , routine navigator), 1 air electronics officer (aeo), sonobuoy sensor team of 2 weapon system operators (wsop aco) , 4 weapon system operators (wsop ew) manage passive , active electronic warfare systems.

until 1992, nimrod mr2 based @ raf kinloss in scotland (120, 201 , 206 squadrons), , raf st mawgan in cornwall (42 , 38(r) squadrons). following options change, 42 squadron disbanded , number reassigned 38(r) squadron. nimrod mr2 aircraft withdrawn on 31 march 2010, year earlier planned, financial reasons. last official flight of nimrod mr2 took place on 26 may 2010, xv229 flying raf kinloss kent international airport used evacuation training airframe @ nearby mod defence fire training , development centre.

aew3

nimrod aew3 xz286 @ 1980 farnborough air show

in mid-1970s modified nimrod proposed airborne warning (aew) mission – again replacement lancaster-derived, piston-engined shackleton aew.2. eleven existing nimrod airframes converted british aerospace @ former avro plant @ woodford house gec marconi radars in bulbous nose , tail. nimrod aew3 project plagued cost over-runs , problems gec 4080m computer used. eventually, mod recognised cost of developing radar system achieve required level of performance prohibitive , probability of success uncertain, , in december 1986 project cancelled. raf received 7 boeing e-3 sentry aircraft instead.

mra4


nimrod mra4 zj518 makes pass weapons bay open @ 2007 royal international air tattoo

the nimrod mra4 intended replace capability provided mr2. new aircraft, current-generation rolls-royce br710 turbofan engines, new larger wing, , refurbished fuselage. project subject delays, cost over-runs, , contract re-negotiations; type had been intended enter service in 2003. mra4 cancelled in 2010 result of strategic defence , security review @ point £789 million over-budget , 9 years late; development airframes scrapped. functions dispersed other assets, hercules transport aircraft , sentry airborne warning aircraft given tasks, cancellation of mra4 resulted in significant gap in long-range maritime patrol , search-and rescue capability.

in july 2016, ministry of defence announced purchase of 9 boeing p-8a poseidon aircraft raf, restoring dedicated long-range maritime patrol , reconnaissance aircraft (mpra) capability united kingdom. these aircraft arrive in 2019/2020 time frame , based @ raf lossiemouth.

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