So, what the implications, if any, of the early Nimrod rundown?
FT:
PM to order £1.5bn defence cuts
Gordon Brown is to approve about £1.5bn of cuts to "low priority" defence projects over the next three years as part of a reform package that will shift resources to Afghanistan and ease the crippling defence budget shortfall.
Final details are still under negotiation but the measures will include cuts to the existing Harrier and Tornado fighter jet fleet, an early drawdown of Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft and thousands of staff cuts across the armed forces and Whitehall.
The sacrifices will be offset by moves to boost spending on critical frontline equipment for the Afghan campaign. The prime minister, who visited troops in Afghanistan at the weekend, will fast track an order for at least 20 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and purchase new surveillance systems to counter roadside bombs, additional fighting vehicles, and one more C-17 transport aircraft. Defence insiders insisted the additional kit would have been unaffordable without cuts elsewhere.
The Royal Air Force is expected to bear the brunt of what one industry executive described as a "gruesome" budget planning round for 2010 but the Royal Navy will also take a survey ship and mine hunter out of service early.....
The Ministry of Defence is expected to be forced to make much bigger sacrifices after the strategic defence review, including significant reductions in the order for Joint Strike Fighter jets. Although the exact numbers are yet to be decided, the cuts to the Tornado and Harrier fleet and the early withdrawal of the ageing Nimrod are bound to threaten the future of several large air bases.
The services and MoD are also pressing to whittle down the numbers of staff in low-priority areas, which will amount to job losses for thousands of civilian and uniformed personnel.
The order for the Boeing-made Chinooks, worth up to £1bn in additional MoD spending, will be spread over 10 years, but some new helicopters could be available for Afghanistan within a year or two. Funding for the helicopters will be partly taken from the cancellation of the Future Medium Helicopter programme, which was supposed to replace the UK's ageing Sea King and Puma fleets.
The purchase of the additional C17 from Boeing is partly in response to growing demand for airlift capability for Afghanistan. However, defence insiders insisted it did not signal that Britain would scale back its order of the Airbus A400M transport aircraft, which made its maiden flight last week.