Hawker Siddeley Nimrod

Le Hawker Siddeley ( BAe ) Nimrod par Wikipedia de langue anglaise

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The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod was a military aircraft developed and built in the United Kingdom. It is an extensive modification of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the world's first [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. It was originally designed by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]'s successor, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], now part of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

It was designed as a Royal Air Force [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the Nimrod MR1/MR2, its major role being [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (ASW), although it also had secondary roles in maritime surveillance and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. It served from the early 1970s until March 2010.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]
[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]} The current Nimrod series was due to be replaced by the now cancelled [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

In addition to the three Maritime Reconnaissance variants, two further Nimrod types were developed. The RAF also used the Nimrod R1 variant in an electronic intelligence gathering ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]) role, while the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was intended as a dedicated [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] platform in the early-to-mid 1980s; this was unsuccessful and was cancelled in 1986 in favour of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Development


Five separate marks of the Nimrod have been developed during its service with the RAF, of which three have been successful:

• MR1 – the initial maritime reconnaissance variant
  
• MR2 – an upgraded version of the MR1
  
• R1 – a Mark 1 Nimrod optimised for the signals intelligence role
  

The other two were cancelled before they could enter front-line service:

• AEW3 – an [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] version cancelled in 1986 in favour of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]
  
• MRA4 – an upgraded version of the MR2 cancelled in 2010 in a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]
  

MR1

The development of the Nimrod patrol aircraft began in 1964 as a project to replace the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The Nimrod design was based on that of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] civil airliner which had reached the end of its commercial life (the
first two RAF aircraft were unfinished Comets).

The Comet's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engines were replaced by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] for better [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], particularly at the low altitudes required for maritime patrol.

Major fuselage changes were made, including an internal weapons bay, an extended nose for radar, a new tail with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (ESM) sensors mounted in a bulky fairing, and a MAD ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]) boom.

After the first flight in May 1967, the RAF ordered 46 Nimrod MR1s.

The first example ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]) entered service in October 1969. Five squadrons were eventually equipped with the MR1.

R1

Three Nimrod aircraft were adapted for the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] role, replacing the Comet C2s and Canberras of No. 51 Squadron in May 1974.

The R1 was visually distinguished from the MR2 by the lack of a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] boom.

It was fitted with an array of rotating dish aerials in the aircraft's bomb-bay, with further dish aerials in the tail cone and at the front of the wing-mounted fuel tanks. It had a flight crew of five (two pilots, a flight engineer and two navigators) and up to 23 crew operating the SIGINT equipment.

Only since the end of the Cold War has the role of the aircraft been officially acknowledged; they were once described as "radar calibration aircraft".

The R1s have not suffered the same rate of fatigue and corrosion as the MR2s.

One R1 was lost in a flying accident since the type's introduction; this occurred in May 1995 during a flight test
after major servicing, at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

To replace this aircraft an MR2 was selected for extensive conversion, undertaken by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] at the Woodford factory, to R1 standard, and entered service in December 1996.

The Nimrod R1 was based at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in Lincolnshire, England, and flown by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The two remaining Nimrod R1s were originally planned to be retired at the end of March 2011, but operational requirements forced the RAF to deploy one to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], Cyprus on 16 March in support of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The last flight of the type was on 28 June 2011 from RAF Waddington, in the presence of the Chief of the Air Staff, ACM Sir Stephen Dalton. Aircraft XW664 was transferred to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] on 12 July 2011 and will go on public display once classified systems have been removed.

The R1 is to be replaced by ex-[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft, which will be known as the Air Seeker in RAF service.

The three Air Seekers will be delivered between 2014 and 2018.

MR2

Starting in 1975, 35 aircraft were upgraded to MR2 standard, being re-delivered from August 1979.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

The upgrade included extensive modernisation of the aircraft's electronic suite. Changes included the replacement of the obsolete ASV Mk 21 radar used by the Shackleton and Nimrod MR1 with the new EMI [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], a new acoustic processor capable of handling more modern sonobouys and additional ESM pods on the wingtips.

Provision for [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was introduced during the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (as the MR2P), as well as hardpoints to allow the Nimrod to carry the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] missile for use against [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] which were configured for maritime patrol/surveillance duties shadowing the British naval task force. Eventually all MR2s gained refuelling probes and the "P" designation was dropped.

Further modifications were introduced during the 1991 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], with a small number of MR2s being fitetd with improved [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] datalinks, improved defensive [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] including the first operational use of a towed radar decoy, and a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] turret under the starboard wing, with the modified aircraft being known as MR2P(GM) (Gulf Mod).^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

The Nimrod MR2 carried out three main roles – Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti-Surface Unit Warfare (ASUW) and Search and Rescue (SAR).

Its extended 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 Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR), range and endurance was greatly extended.

The MR2 was a submarine killer carrying up to date sensors and data processing equipment linked to the weapon systems.

In addition to weapons and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], a searchlight was mounted in the starboard wing pod for [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (SAR) operations.

The crew consisted of two pilots and one flight engineer, two navigators (one tactical navigator and a routine navigator), one Air Electronics Officer (AEO), the sonobuoy sensor team of two Weapon System Operators (WSOp ACO) and four Weapon System Operators (WSOp EW) to manage passive and active electronic warfare systems.

Two of the WSOps were used as observers positioned at the port and starboard beam lookout windows when flying in dense air traffic. The MR2 had the longest [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] of any NATO aircraft.

The Nimrod MR2 was based at RAF Kinloss in Scotland and flown by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Squadrons.

First maintenance of the MR2 was carried out by the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Software support for the MR2 was carried out by the Nimrod Software Team also based at RAF Kinloss.

The Nimrod MR2 aircraft was withdrawn on 31 March 2010, a year earlier than planned, for financial reasons.

The last official flight of the MR2 Nimrod took place on 26 May 2010, with XV229 flying from RAF Kinloss to Kent International Airport, Manston in Kent, where it will be used by the nearby MOD Defence Fire Training and Development Centre as an evacuation training airframe.