• Four-engine, Intelligence Surveillance Targeting Acquisition Reconnaissance (ISTAR) aircraft.
• Crew of 12 or 13 depending on the role.
• Can fly for around 9 hours without air-to-air refuelling.

Details

The Nimrod MR1 entered service in 1969. The design was based on the civilian Comet jet airliner. In the early 1980s, the aircraft was upgraded to MR2 standard and an air-to-air refuelling capability was added as a result of lessons learned during the Falklands War of 1982. During the intervening years the aircraft has undergone significant upgrades to its mission system, sensors and self defence suites, thus maintaining the Nimrod as an extremely capable surveillance and attack platform. All Nimrod MR2s are based at RAF Kinloss as part of 325 Expeditionary Air Wing, equipping Numbers 120 and 201 Squadrons along with the Operational Conversion Unit, No 42 (Reserve) Squadron. The Nimrod MR2 will continue in service until all squadrons are re-equipped with the new Nimrod MRA4 due to enter service in 2010.

The MR2 is a versatile platform which makes it ideally suited to operate in a wide variety of roles including: communications, surveillance and attack support to land and maritime forces; maritime reconnaissance; anti-submarine warfare; and search and rescue. The Nimrod MR2 has made a significant contribution to all the major operations in which the UK has been involved in recent years. In particular the Nimrod has served with distinction in the Cold War, the Falklands Conflict, 2 Gulf Wars, and in support of the maritime blockade of the Balkans during the Bosnia crisis. The Nimrod has been on permanent deployment in the Gulf area since 2001, where crews regularly fly over Iraq, Afghanistan, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman. Additionally it is involved in many other operations both in the UK and abroad including providing support to the Lebanon crisis in July 2006. All this makes the Nimrod MR2 one of the busiest aircraft in the RAF’s inventory today.

The Nimrod has a large, internal bomb-bay which is capable of carrying a wide range of weapons and other stores. The Nimrod is equipped with the Stingray torpedo for anti-submarine warfare, while for search and rescue duties the aircraft is fitted with a selection of air-deliverable, multi-seat dinghies, survival packs and other stores. The Nimrod can carry around 150 sonobuoys of several different types. In the last few years the Nimrod has been equipped with electro optic sensors which enhance its utility as a surveillance and targeting platform.

On Operations, like all UK forces, the Nimrod is tasked by the Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood, and peacetime tasking comes form from the Maritime Headquarters also at Northwood. Peacetime work includes surface and sub-surface surveillance, monitoring civilian and military shipping movements in the North Atlantic, and participating in Joint and multi-national exercises around the world. There is always an aircraft on a 2-hour readiness for search and rescue (SAR) controlled by the Air Rescue Coordination Centre, located at Kinloss. Although the SAR service is primarily for downed military aircrew and military maritime incidents, the Nimrod also attends many civilian emergencies and provides a valuable addition to the work of the Maritime Coastguard Agency. With its capability to operate as low as 200 feet whilst over the sea at speeds of under 200 mph and equipped with a powerful searchlight, the Nimrod can carry out searches, assist SAR helicopters or act as an on-scene commander for major maritime disasters.

Crew

• Two Pilots and a Flight Engineer operate the flight deck. The aircraft captain is selected from the most experienced officer on the crew, irrespective of whether he or she is a Pilot or a Weapon Systems Officer.
• Two Weapons Systems Officers (formerly Navigators), who alternate between routine navigation and tactical direction tasks.
• A Weapons Systems Officer (formerly Air Electronics Officer), who is the sensor and communications coordinator.
• Two Weapons Systems Operators (known as 'wet men') who are responsible for monitoring both active (searching) and passive (listening) sonobuoys. They are also responsible for the Electro/Optical equipment.
• The remaining Weapons Systems Operators (known as 'dry men') manage an array of equipment such as the radar, communication suite, electronic support measures, the self defence suite, and the Magnetic Anomaly Detector (for detecting submarines).

Roles

• Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW). Monitoring the activities of submarines, and, in times of war, attacking submarines.
• Anti-Surface-Unit Warfare (ASUW). ASUW covers a wide range of operations involving surveillance and reconnaissance missions that may culminate in the targeting and attack of enemy vessels.
• Communications and Surveillance Support to Ground Forces.
• Search and Rescue (SAR). Nimrods can support SAR operations by assisting in the detection and location of personnel in emergency situations, providing a communications relay with attending helicopters.

Armament

Internal bomb-bay for up to 9 Sting Ray torpedoes.

Recognition

Long 'double bubble' fuselage (1) with the cockpit built into the steeply raked nose (2). The fuselage tail-cone extends well beyond the fin and rudder to house a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) unit (3). The low-set wings are slightly swept on the forward edge. The four turbofans are buried in the inboard section of the wings (4). Bullet-shaped wing fairings project from the leading edges towards the wingtips. The Nimrod's fin, which has a large dorsal section extending well forward, is surmounted by an elliptical-shaped fairing (5). An in-flight refuelling probe projects from the fuselage above the cockpit.