Originally Posted by
sidevalve
The Labour govt initiated the Nimrod Mk 3 project in 1977. It was cancelled under a Conservative govt in 1986.
The signal sent out by the JTU after each sortie used to end with the following words:
Assessment of operational capability: Nil
Assessment of training capability: Nil.
It was far from being on the cusp of delivery.
Actually put forward and costed by Heath's mob in 1973 (it says that in the Files on UKAD improvements during the 1970s at Kew (RAF wanted the E-3)).