Originally Posted by
davejb
Now we need to design and develop it, get the sensors to work on it as advertised etc....
Theoretical physics is one thing, practical application another. None of the Nimrods worked out of the box. They worked but it took the ingenuity of the crews get them to work in an optimal manner.
Besides the crews there was another essential feature - the ocean and targets. You need to get your sensors into the working environment and you need submarines so that you can prove they work. To do that you need an airframe. Unless you have some form of trials platform then you are limited to sequential development which would stretch the timeframe even more.
Now where could we get a suitable trials platform at a low cost and short timescale?