British Future MPA
British Future MPA
As we are a maritime nation, it is inconceivable that we will not reestablish our military airborne maritime patrol capability when the nation’s finances are eventually back out of the red. The Nimrod saga was an object lesson to both politicians and the MoD in how not to procure a complex piece of military equipment and its demise was shocking, but the requirement has not gone away. I am sure that a great deal of useful knowledge and experience has been gained from that sad episode and planning must surely be going on in MoD in preparation for regaining the capability.
Assuming it will eventually happen, a number of questions about the future MPA spring to mind:
a. Should the platform be a domestic or a foreign development?
b. Should the full raft of sensor and performance capabilities that were deemed necessary in Nimrod be included in its replacement?
c. Should it be operated by the RAF or the RN?
I have my views of course, but would be interested first to unleash the massive collective intellect contained within Prune on the subject before daring to offer my own lowly, personal perspective.