Euro MPA might save the day, but we need a new way!
From the Airbus military website
True Military Mission Aircraft
'The A319 MPA is fully equipped for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare including offensive and strike capabilities. The aircraft can carry a variety of weapons internally and on wing-pylons.
The internal bomb bay has the capacity for eight weapon stations which allow the launching of torpedoes, depth charges, mines and other ASW weaponry.
Four under-wing stations which provide A319 MPA with the capability of launching missile attacks on naval or land targets.
The aircraft is equipped with a complete self-protection suite including radar, missile or laser warning systems fully integrated with a decoy dispenser and, optionally, a directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) system providing protection against IR-guided missiles.'
That's what a 'MRA' is for. It does the long range SAR and all the other stuff because it just happens to be really useful in those roles. This is why it's not a civvy job though, ultimately it's a weapon system and there hasn't been too much mention of that in previous discussion.
Maybe the 319 is the way to go. Let's get rid of single service ownership at the the same time. A dual service squadron (surely we wouldn't get more than one). We had 360. Joint Force Harrier and others, why not a joint MPA outfit? It would be ridiculous for the RN to raise a MPA force from scratch without using the considerable RAF experience still in circulation and it has always been a bit odd that we haven't had more RN operators integrated into the RAF MPA force (you know, people who really understand what ships and subs are about).
Go on RN. Go for it. Half a dozen to start with? Bury the crab rivalry, use some of that expertise and get us going again before it's too late. We're hanging on to the R1 by the skin of our teeth, a few weeks later and we wouldn't have been able to do that. The longer we stay out of the LRMPA business the longer it will take us to get back into it and get back into we will. Those who think we can do its multiple roles with a range of different aircraft flown by civvies don't appreciate that it's really a weapon platform at heart! Beware beware..........ah those were the days.