NIMROD MR2/R1 (No Longer in service)

Nimrod was a development of the basic Comet No 4C airframe that dates from the late 1940s.

The Nimrod MR2 and MR4 were scrapped in March 2011.

The MR Mark 2P, which was developed for long-range maritime patrol. The Nimrod MR2 carried out three main roles; Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti-Surface Unit Warfare (ASUW) and Search and Rescue (SAR).

Its long ferry range enabled the crew to monitor maritime areas far to the north of Iceland and up to 4,000 km out into the Western Atlantic. With AAR (Air-to-Air Refuelling), its range and endurance was greatly extended.

The MR2 was a very lethal submarine killer carrying the most up to date sensors and data processing equipment linked to the weapon systems. In addition to weapons and sonar-buoys, a searchlight mounted in the starboard wing pod could be used for search and rescue (SAR) operations. Crew members comprised 2 x Pilots and a flight engineer operate the flight deck, 2 x Navigators, an Air Electronics Officer (AEO), the sonobuoy sensor team of 3 x Air Electronic Operators and 4 x Air Electronic Operators to manage a wide range of avionics and weapon systems .

The second version was the R Mark 1, an aircraft specially fitted out for the gathering of electronic intelligence and only three were known to be in service. This was a highly secret aircraft that had been in RAF service since 1971 and about which little was known except that had been spotted on patrol over the Baltic Sea. The Nimrod R1s were externally distinguishable from the maritime reconnaissance version by the absence of the magnetic anomaly detection tail booms and a distinctive pod on the leading edge of the port wing. In-flight refuelling probes were added in 1982.