The Nimrod Review - Official Documents

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2.9
Chapter 2 – History of the Nimrod Aircraft and Technical Description
however, that the requirements of AST 357 could never be met in the timescale necessary to replace the
Shackleton and Air Staff Requirement (ASR) 381 was issued specifying a less complex requirement.
In July 1964, Hawker Siddeley Aviation (formerly De Havilland) made a formal proposal to convert the Comet 4C
turbo-jet powered airliner into a military aircraft (designated HS801). The underside of the Comet fuselage was
to be substantially reconfigured to fit a large bomb-bay, extra fuel tanks were to be fitted to give greater range
and endurance, and the engines were to be changed from Rolls-Royce Avon engines to Spey 250 engines.
In February 1965, it was announced in Parliament that the HS801 had been selected to replace the
Shackleton.
Nimrod MR1
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Nimrod R1
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The HS801 became the first Nimrod, the Nimrod MR1. The type was designed for anti-submarine and antisurface
unit warfare, surface reconnaissance and for search and rescue operations, i.e. the traditional roles of
the MPA. 9 The Nimrod MR1 was equipped with a wide range of radar and acoustic equipment and had the
ability to drop sonobuoys, to detect and track submarines, as well as carrying weapons such as torpedoes and
Search and Rescue (SAR) equipment.
10 The first flight of a prototype Nimrod MR1 was on 23 May 1967. The first flight of a new-build production
Nimrod MR1 was on 28 June 1968. As stated above, the RAF took delivery of its first Nimrod MR1 on 2 October
1969, at RAF St. Mawgan when it was handed to No. 236 Operational Conversion Unit. 11 This was XV230.
12 The Nimrod MR1 enabled the newly formed No. 18 (Maritime) Group of Strike Command to fulfil its task:
“The undertaking of surveillance operations to maintain a flow of information about the
movement of potentially hostile surface vessels and submarines over vast ocean areas.” 13
The 43 Nimrod MR1s were operated primarily from RAF Kinloss, Morayshire, and RAF St. Mawgan, Cornwall.
No. 203 Squadron at Luqa, Malta, were also equipped with Nimrods but, following the 1974 Defence Review,
this Squadron was disbanded and its Nimrod MR1s flown back to the UK and placed in storage.
Three additional airframes were also ordered from Hawker Siddeley to replace the ageing Comet R2s still used
by the RAF for Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) duties. The first of these three extra airframes was delivered to RAF
Wyton in July 1971. They were each fitted with a suite of sophisticated and sensitive electronic intelligencegathering
equipment and antennae and were designated Nimrod Reconnaissance Mk 1 (Nimrod R1). The
principal external difference from the maritime Nimrod was that they did not have the Magnetic Anomaly
Detector probe fitted in the tail. As stated above, the three original Nimrod R1s were built by Hawker Siddeley at
Woodford and delivered to the RAF between 1970 and 1973. There are currently three Nimrod R1s in existence,
operated by No. 51 Squadron from RAF Waddington.
In 1995, a Nimrod R1 (XW666) was lost following an engine fire (see below). It was replaced in December 1996
by the conversion of a Nimrod MR2 (XV249), then in storage at RAF Kinloss, into a Nimrod R1.
The Nimrod R1 played a key role in the Falklands Conflict of 1982. Its increasingly important electronic intelligence
(ELINT) capabilities have been employed in almost every conflict involving UK forces since then.
9 Paragraph 4 of BAE Nimrod Task 06-3409 (September 2004).
10 Paragraph 4 of BAE Nimrod Task 06-3409 (September 2004).
11 This unit trained aircrew to operate the Nimrod; it was renumbered No 42(R) Sqn in 1992 and continues to fulfil the training role.
12 The RAF’s Coastal Command became No 18 (Maritime) Group of Strike Command on 27 November 1969.
13 Definition of the role of No. 18 (Maritime) Group of Strike Command, BAe Nimrod, John Chatres, London, 1986.
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