As a young schoolboy, I went to a then-unparalleled open day at Boscombe Down, where there were a host of never-to-be-forgotten rarities including a Nimrd prototype which was unusual in having Martel missiles (can’t remember if they were TV or radar, and probably couldn’t have told the difference at the time anyway) underwing. Subsequently, I’ve read that the same aircraft was also used for SS11 and AS12 trials.
Why? Was an AS missile part of the original requirement? The Shack never had such a weapon, did it?
If so, what went wrong? Why did the Nimrod MR.Mk 1 not get such a weapon until the Falklands, when they got Harpoon?
I seem to remember reports that the original, Falklands AGM-84 Harpoon used the underwing pylons, whereas today the Harpoon is carried in the bomb bay. Why?
I have a Falklands era
PR photo of a Nimrod with all its weapons options laid out, including a Paveway II. What happened there, then?