Well Dr Fox is also part of this "spoof" then...
The decision to scrap the Nimrod MRA4 programme was one of the most difficult we had to take. This capability was conceived to provide the very outermost ring of long-range layered reconnaissance. The original plan conceived in 1996 was for 21 aircraft to be delivered in 2003. By the time the new Government took office in 2010 the programme had already been reduced to just nine aircraft, was almost £800m over budget with the unit cost of each aircraft ballooning by 300 per cent, and the aircraft were still nowhere near ready to enter service. The single MRA4 aircraft that had been delivered to the RAF was so riddled with flaws it could not pass its flight tests, it was simply unsafe to fly. I am not prepared to put our service personnel into any plane that isn’t safe. It would have taken more money and more time to rectify all the problems, if it was possible at all, and the onward cost of sustaining even the reduced fleet over the next ten years was a prohibitive £2bn. So we took the decision not to throw good money after bad. In the final analysis, it had to go.
I recognise the outstanding service given to the nation by the original Nimrod for over 40 years and that MRA4 would have been great to have, if it had worked. But the plain fact is that it didn’t. Because the airframes are based on a 1940s design, there is no realistic demand for them, and storing them would not be cost effective. We are having to pay to dispose of the aircraft but this is dwarfed by the projected cost of continuing to blindly pursue it. Labour had already retired the Nimrod MR2 last year before the MRA4 was ready, so the capability has already been gapped for over a year. We are mitigating the risk incurred by using other capabilities, such as Frigates, Merlin helicopters and Hercules aircraft. Operations in Afghanistan are not affected by this decision and we will continue to cover long-range Search and Rescue around the UK with a number of aircraft that can fulfil this role.
He seems very sure of his facts now, doesn't he?
iRaven
PS - he also reiterated these facts in Defence Oral Questions at about 1500hrs in the House today (31 Jan 11).