If we have to move on from the Nimrod arguments and retributions discussed in other threads, what are the immediate and cheap alternatives?
It seems to me that the Nimrod was, in any case, operating in an adapted role for which it was not really designed (to put it mildly!)
So what immediately available and cost-effective solutions are available off the shelf, which are directly relevant to the roles
currently needed? The current role for airborne surveillance is not terribly sophisticated compared to the Cold War role (for which the Nimrod was belatedly adapted about forty years ago but I digress..). I expect to be corrected but it seems to me that the current role is mostly direct real-time visual surveillance and signal relay via high speed satellite relay, long loiter times, low airspeed, medium altitude capability, common fuel policy, low acquisition costs, low running costs.
You could buy a couple of hundred of
these for the price of a singe Nimrod and give every foot patrol their own dedicated round the clock overhead lead scout. Just a thought...