Yes it’s a shame the MR2 has gone, but it was past its best and way past retirement.
You're right it is a shame, but you are completely wrong about it being past its best and past its retirement.
Did you know that BAES had a Nimrod MR2 airframe on a fatigue rig so that they could flex and stress it whenever they wanted to and thereby calculate the fatigue life of the fleet that were thousands of hrs behind it? The average MR2 had only 17,000 fg hrs of careful handling at the end of its life; many thousands of hrs short of a full life. It also had brand new fuel seals and hot pipes (inoperative in flight) throughout. Only the Spey engines had a logistical issue, but when I last looked at the "replace by date" on each engine in the F700 on a typical MR2 in March last year, none were due to be changed any time soon.
The MR2 was at its best at the the end, and it certainly was not past retirement age. The loss of XV230 and its crew was made even more wasteful and tragic by not taking the product of the huge effort to make it safe, folllowing that accident, forward into this decade.
The MR2 was forced out of service by the plan to replace it. The idiots didn't wait for the replacement to come in before disposing of it.
With very little money and manpower, the MOD could "buy back" a few the MR2s, inspect/service them as required and then maintain an adequate LRMPA capability for a few years pending the procurement of an off the shelf capability.
It just needs someone with the balls to do it.
Ed