Doubt they could. In a jointy world, it's not for the Navy to tell the RAF what to do with it's aircraft.
Also, had the RAF wanted Nimrod, I doubt the Government would have agreed even if something else were offered in lieu. The programme was just to big a stick with which to hit the the previous Government the MOD and BAe! Even the leak of what Liam Fox thought about the loss of Nimrod could not persuade Osborne and Cameron to act otherwise.
