Manning for Nimrod AEW.
6 Consoles (5 "ordinary" consoles plus one with additional comms kit).
Crew could be mix and match depending who was on board and the mission (remember we only flew trials and training for trials - the seating was a little different for data collection).
usual fit was:
1 x Tactical Coordinator (IC mission)
1 x SSO (Senior Surveillance Officer - SC equivalent in Sentry)
1 x SO/Comms
(carried out surveillance function and ran data link/comms hardware)
1 x SO/ESM (surveillance functions and ESM)
1 x Fighter Allocator
1 x Weapons Controller
The consoles ran sideways down the left side of the fuselage. Numbering from the right (front), a typical set up could be:
1: SO/Comm
2: SO ESM
3: SSO
4: TaCo
5: FA
6: WC
Note that Nimrod planned to have more automated systems than the E-3D and therefore the concept was for less crew. The tracker in Nimrod was fully automated (as was data link and ESM) and in theory the system ran itself. The problem was that the radar generated noise also produced a great number of false tracks, and as the system only generated tracks (no sensor data on view) then you did not know which was real and which was false. The SOs managed the tracks to be broadcast on the data link.
The allocation of frequencies to radios was also automatic (AMRICS System) and therefore it was deemed not necessary to have the Comms personnel that were on the E-3D. Comms functionality was carried out by one of the Surveillance Operators in addition to his main tracking duties.
The computers were managed by the SSO - again it was deemed unnecessary to carry a specific Display Technician. The SSO would also be responsible for keeping the sensors running, but we experienced so many problems here that a ground engineer was carried on all flights (something akin to the Radar Technician on the E-3D.) He sat on a camp stool by the equipment racks in the rear!
However, despite the automatic functions in Nimrod, data was input to the computers by a hierarchy system of switch actions that went down to about 6 levels before data could be input (the routes were not logical either). So when voicetelling a track (for example), the Nimrod took 63 button pushes per track - the E-3D takes about 15 for the same functions! There was no digital map with the Nimrod, and therefore, map data was achieved by blutacking a perspex cover with an engraved map at a set scale over the display!! The picture was then slewed to a datum position on the screen. Parallax was a big problem but at least we could chinagraph onto the perspex.
Bottom line - The E-3D, although being a mandraulic and older system, is a much more capable beast and is actually capable of carrying out the tasks allotted to it. These tasks include Airborne Battle Management and Air to Ground direction - something that it was not precured to do showing the expansion capabilities of the E-3D platform. Nimrod was, in effect, a super Shackleton AEW platform. The E-3D with its extra capacity adds so much more than the AEW task that it was procured for.
As a postcript,
The Shackleton AEW carried 5 x Mission Crew to man 3 x consoles:
1 x Tactical Coordinator (IC Mission)
1 x Controller (directed aircraft and optimised the sensors)
1 x Operator (carried out AEW duties - ie voicetel etc)
1 x SO or Controller who acted as Radio Operator.
(Manned the HF radios - took over the roll from 2nd Nav post 1981 cuts)
1 x SO or Controller "resting off console" in the Galley (or the cook)!
Personnel posted to Shackleton Mission Crew started life as an operator. They then upgraded on the Sqn to Controller then TaCo as they gained more experience with the aircraft. The Controller did not have a formal "Ticket" and controlled under the "supervision" of a fighter controller on the ground. This was really useful on QRA in the Iceland/Faroes Gap which we did regardless.
We too had a couple of LMs posted in (about 1984?). They were trained up as Operators I seem to recall but did not stay long with the aircraft. Fighter Control/TG12 personnel arrived in about 1982 and were the first to be awarded the FC Brevet (At the first awards ceremony for the first ever badge, a reporter asked if FC Brevet was an Italian Football Team)!
A photograph of the inside of the Sheckleton appears in the history section of the 8 Squadron website (should anyone be interested in what it looked like). There is also a photograph of Nimrod AEW Console 1.