R1 Hawker Siddeley Nimrod

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.