The British are scheduled to withdraw the remaining two Nimrod R1's that have been providing signals intelligence in places like Afghanistan sometime next year, leaving a three-year break until the first of the new U.S.-provided aircraft enters service in 2014.
The final aircraft will not be delivered until 2018, an RAF spokesman said.
Analysts reckon U.S. Rivet Joint's partly crewed by British personnel will be tasked to fill a key capability gap in Britain's defenses until the fleet of Boeing aircraft arrives. The spokesman declined to comment on how the British will plug the hole in its intelligence-gathering capability.
Yet another 'capability holiday'? How can it take
3+ years just to modify an almost 60 year old Boeing design?