I am of the opinion that the decision to cancel the MRA4 was the most operationally and strategically illiterate decision of all the operationally and strategically illiterate decisions that populated the SDSR but it seems there is still power in the pile of razor blades that MRA4 became. The source of this power is written evidence to the Defence Select [...]
With all the rumour around at the moment about a spare billion being spirited from somewhere, I just thought we should have a little look at some of the possible alternatives for a new Maritime Patrol Aircraft. Just to provoke debate, I thought we could split this into high, medium and low risk. I suppose I could have done it [...]
Original story here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12291372 Have scoured the web for a viewable ‘outside the UK’ version of this if you cannot see the video at the link above Anyway, that will be £4.1 billion please, or in other currencies 4,7 Billion Euros 6.5 Billion Dollars Still, we do have to save £200m per year, wouldn’t want to sacrifice the defence of [...]
I was writing a long piece on the run up to the cancellation but I decided to delete it, Nimrod is gone and is not coming back. Of all the decisions in the SDSR the cancellation of Nimrod is the most insane but maybe insane decisions are needed. It is hard to reconcile the loss of such a versatile piece [...]
As we all know there was never any chance of the Nimrod MRA4 getting a reprieve but the day when they are scrapped is drawing pretty close. When the cancellation was first announced in the SDSR the costs already sunk and costs to cancel were a little unclear. With the passage of time these became clearer, at the point of [...]
I will be covering Nimrod and its roles in a future post but I received this yesterday and thought it worth publishing, despite the media attention of scrapping the Harriers I think not bringing into service the MRA4 is reckless. I write on behalf of a group of former aerospace workers and supporters in the North West of England, committed [...]
Binning the Nimrod MRA4 was without a doubt the most idiotic decision to come out of the SDSR, no doubt about that. But if the savings were going to massive then one might have perhaps understood the logic but given that we have already paid for the vast majority of development and productions costs with 1 complete, 1 about to [...]
Of all the insane decision in the 2010 SDSR, not bringing the MRA4 into service was quite probably the most far reaching in terms of its impact. As the local protest movement moves up a notch the parliamentary questions are getting more and more interesting. Angus Robertson (Moray, Scottish National Party) To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) [...]
Reducing Challenger 2 I can understand, withdrawing the ageing Type 22 frigates I can understand, I can even understand (just) the logic of withdrawing the Harrier, but the decision on Nimrod MRA4 is reckless insanity with only marginal savings. We sometimes get seduced by the ‘sunk cost’ argument where there is a reluctance to cancel something because the huge sums [...]
Following on from the previous post about the Nimrod MRA.4 and the two prototypes sat idle at Woodford Aerodrome, I contacted my MP and received the following reply from Peter Luff, the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology: ‘Thank you for your letter of 18 May enclosing correspondence from your constituent, Mr Richard Stockley, about the MOD’s plans for [...]
So, General (BOWMAN) Dynamics have been named as preferred bidder for the demonstration phase of the Specialist Vehicle Recce Block 1. The Common Base Platform will also form the basis for a range of other variants. Conveniently forgetting the last 20 years of MoD bungling, Chief of Defence Material, Sir Kevin O’Donoghue, commented on the MoD’s performance; To have reached [...]
The first of the planned Nimrod MRA4′s have been handed over to the RAF to begin crew training. This is the first of 9 ordered but won’t be in full service until 2012 as the whole project has been slowed down to save money. The original order was for 21 aircraft but this has been continually whittled down. As the [...]
Don't miss it - Subscribe by RSS.
Designed by
Copyright © 2012 Think Defence. All rights reserved.