Originally Posted by dervish
Is the P8A a descendant of the P?? considered and rejected in favour of MRA4? You know what they're like. So you now want something you considered inferior 20 years ago?
No, the UK did NOT reject the P-7 in favor of MRA4.
The P-7's competitors had been Boeing's modified B757 and McDonnell Douglas' modified MD-90. Lockheed was announced by the USN as the winner in October
1988, and
the UK had, in fact, stated it would buy P-7 instead of modernizing the MR2... until the USN canceled that program in 1990.
The UK, in January
1995, issued a RFP for a Nimrod replacement, and on 2 December 1996 awarded BAe a contract to convert & modernize MR2s into MRA4s (under the designation "Nimrod 2000"). BAE and Boeing collaborated in developing the new tactical command system, based on Boeing's TMS-2000 system.
The USN did nothing about a new attempt to replace the P-3 until
2000, when it issued a new RPF. Lockheed submitted the "Orion 2000" which was yet another "new-build updated P-3" (like the P-7 had been), while Boeing submitted a modified B737-800. Boeing's submission was selected.