Press Release
23 January 2008
UK Ministry of Defence considers alternatives to Nimrod R.1 upgrade
London, 23 January 2008 – The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD) plans to upgrade Royal Air Force (RAF) British Aerospace Nimrod R.1 electronic intelligence (ELINT)-gathering aircraft are being reorganised following safety concerns, Jane’s Defence Weekly reports.
The loss of a RAF Nimrod MR.2 maritime patrol aircraft, which has the same airframe as the R.1 variant, in a mid-air fire over Afghanistan in September 2006 was subsequently linked by investigators to safety problems with the aircraft's fuel systems. Jane's understands that this has forced the U.K. to think again about the GBP400 million (USD786 million) Project Helix to sustain the three-strong Nimrod R.1 fleet, which is expected to be in service until 2025.
U.K. military sources told Jane's that alternative platforms are now being considered and proposals have been made in the current defence spending round to secure additional funding to allow the Helix mission system to be installed in a different airframe.
In April 2007, U.S. company L-3 Communications was awarded a GBP11 million assessment contract by the U.K. MoD to upgrade the Nimrod R.1s. An MoD spokeswoman told Jane's that the MoD was "currently assessing a range of options and it is too early to get into details.”
"L3 Communications is still the preferred bidder and is under contract to conduct the Helix assessment phase until March 2008. Project Helix is aimed at continuing the capability currently provided by the Nimrod R.1 out to 2025 - namely airborne electronic surveillance," she said. "No definite decisions have yet been made regarding the selection of the mission system, or host platform, for that capability."
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