Which is not the same as saying we actually have any aircraft to operate.



Think about this one! It was (apparently) delivered to the RAF (which would require an agreement by ACAS that it was airworthy), yet it (apparently) wasn't. Who in DPA/DE&S would knowingly deliver an unairworthy a/c to the Customer?

As advised in 1998 to the MoD(PE) 2 Star responsible for management oversight of the programme. We still wait for him to be asked to explain his actions (or rather, lack of).

See above question^^^ Same 2 Star ruled in 2001 (letters dated 10.1.01 and 16.3.01), that it was acceptable to deliver unairworthy a/c to the Services, having declared they were airworthy but in the full knowledge they were not.

counter piracy, gun
 

Revealing the company's investigation of a gunship development, head of market development for light and medium transport aircraft Jerónimo Amador says: "We have seen a growing interest from customers." This has been prompted by a need to perform counter-piracy operations, participate in low-intensity conflict and provide protection for critical national infrastructure, he adds.

"Amador confirms that Airbus Military has held talks with ATK over the US company's work to modify two ex-Spanish air force CN-235s as gunships for Jordan, and that it is "looking for a partner to allow us to offer an efficient solution".

Aircraft could be manufactured in a dedicated armed reconnaissance and combat support configuration, to include an electro-optical/infrared sensor, fuselage-housed 30mm (1.2in) cannon and potentially laser-guided rockets and missiles. A surveillance radar could also be carried, along with intelligence-gathering equipment and up to four onboard operator stations. Alternatively, customers could be offered elements of this system as a removable kit.

Potential customers exist in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, Amador says."

Airbus Military studies gunship versions of medium transports

Even the industry man accepts that he'd be wasting his time trying to flog his aircraft to us or any European country. British Future MPA? Never going to happen.

Activity at last on Future UK MPA?
For the last couple of days there has been, what appears to be, a DC3 with a MAD boom trundling in straight lines at low level up and down North Yorkshire. Is this a trial of a possible Nimrod replacement? Or is it something to do with Google mapping?
This is, of course, a serious question!

See here.
Basler BT-67 reg C-FTGI

Thanks Orac; that's the feller.

NOTAMed this week, carrying out aerial survey work.

PICTURES: India's second P-8I makes flight debut, as testing advances

Why are we not going down this road?

Polyglory - because we have politicians in all parties who don't care and would rather spend money on foreign aid, supporting the feckless, paying for the 25% of social housing in London occupied by people not born in the UK etc etc.
Apologies - rant over

Or maybe because the Government has decided that it's not paying billions for
an insurance policy that we are never going to need, not when every other dept is cutting by record ammounts.

Yorkshire Exploration | Rathlin

probably for these guys - they were flying geophyics in Ireland recently as well

Jayand - you could use the same argument with a Trident replacement and I appreciate money is tight but the Nimrod was more than a MPA/ASW aircraft with its extensive use as an ISTAR platform in Afghanistan, anti piracy patrols in the Gulf region and more importantly it SAR role.
New Zealand, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Norway, Ireland and Malta etc all keep a MPA capability and I can't believe all these countries are wrong.
Maybe its humanitarian / law enforcement role makes a MPA requirement an essential asset we should not be without.

Quote:

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Why buy one from the Indians when the one from the cowboys did not work?

Scooter, my argument about insurance is aimed at trident replacement, which was one of the leading arguments for keeping MPA.

As for Istar role in Afghan, it was a stop gap that went on far too long and now they have other platforms doing the job.

SAR is the only real issue and littoral Asuw, I suspect a very cheap and limited capability
Ac covering these two roles is about all you have any hope of getting. Imo.

Jayand - Surrounded by some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and a huge EEZ to Police I think we are in agreement and an aircraft with the ability to patrol and assist with SAR is an asset we should have.

Jayand
Can you tell me the other assets that can complete all the ISTAR roles of the Multimission large aircraft such as the Nimrod overland and water??
Charlie sends

That isn't what I said, and no not on an open forum!

Jayand - Not to turn this into a pi55ing contest as what has been done has been done and there is no point in rehashing old arguments, but your claims that it was a stop gap are somewhat wide of the mark.

If you had ever flown it, you would know that what we did in theatre was an extension to a number of existing roles that had been carried out for years before hand. I admit we got some new kit, but that just replaced some of the old role fit kit we had.

So, to say it was a stop gap is not really that accurate. Its more a matter of the platform was the best choice for the job at hand and it is only now, several years later that a 'better platform' has been introduced, which by and large uses the same kit we used 5 years ago!

The use of a Nimrod doing overland EO ops was in existence before Iraq or Afghan however, it was an add on and not a main role.
Ambition remained to have a more dedicated platform in place, in the mean time and for longer than was needed the Nimrod soldiered on.
That role has been happily been taken on by another platform and any new MPA would not need to be equiped for it.

Er, No. There wasn't anything to replace MR2 until its recent UOR replacement!

Which sort of flies in the face of CAS's suggestion that new platforms need to be multi-role rather than role specific. When you look at the systems that were fitted to the MR2 (and without reopening an old debate, the MRA4) lots of roles could be accomodated in a single platform providing Defence with a lot more options. Personally I can't think of any platform that was as multi-role as the Nimrod.