The Nimrod Review - Official Documents

Chapter 2 – History of the Nimrod Aircraft and Technical Description
CHAPTER 2 – HISTORY OF THE NIMROD AIRCRAFT AND
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
Contents
“And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.”
(Book of Genesis X, 8-12)
Chapter 2 sets out the history of Nimrod aircraft from 1969 to the present day and includes a short technical
description.
Summary
1. The Nimrod was developed from the De Havilland Comet.
2. The first Nimrod to enter service with the RAF was XV230, on 2 October 1969. 1
3. A total of 49 Nimrod airframes were built.
4. The Nimrod has served for nearly four decades in anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface unit warfare,
maritime reconnaissance and search-and-rescue roles. More recently, it has played a valuable role as
an intelligence-gatherer over land in conflicts such as Afghanistan and Iraq.
5. The Cross-Feed duct fitted in the initial Nimrod MR1 1960s design introduced a major potential
source of ignition to the aircraft. In the late 1970s, Nimrod MR1s were upgraded to MR2s and fitted
with Supplementary (air) Conditioning Packs which increased the potential for ignition. In the
1980s, an Air-to-Air Refuelling capability was fitted for the Falklands War which increased the risk
of an uncontained escape of fuel. These modifications gave rise to design flaws which contained
the seeds of the loss of XV230 in 2006.
6. There are currently 11 Nimrod MR2s and three Nimrod R1s in service.
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