Quote Originally Posted by Gil Boyd View Post
Not forgetting of course the MRA4 was ultimately cancelled in 2010 as a result of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), at which point it was £789 million over-budget and over nine years late. All they kept doing was adding more technology to an airframe not built for purpose.
Actually, the airframe was still very much fit for purpose as designed, so much so, that the US was actually interested in buying a fleet of MRA4's to replace the P-3 fleet.........The Nimrod airframe was built like a tank, and was very suited to ops at low level over the oggin, unlike the new B737 based P-8 we now have in the role, which can't be operated for extended periods at the low levels in rough weather that the Nimrod soaked up. The 4 engine layout was also a bonus compared to the twin engine 737 P-8.
However, the problem was MOD's trying to reduce the cost of the MRA4 project, and you don't do that buy reducing the numbers so much that, the only option BAe could come up with to reduce the cost for MOD was the suggestion to take existing built fuselages, and fit new build wings/spars, and the new enlarged engine nascelles etc thereby getting the project approved by MOD.
The problem with that, was of course all the fuselages as originally built had been built in the days before CAD/CAM etc., and were all individually hand fettled on the production line as was the methods back in those days. Thus when they came to try and fit all the new build wing boxes and stuff to all the old fuselages.........they didn't fit. So, costs and time delays just grew and grew....
The USAicon was only interested in buying if they were all new build, and they could be built in the USA. This didn't go down too well, given BAe were trying to bodge our own small fleet, thus we'd end up with a worse fleet.......plus BAe were struggling to find somewhere to get a joint venture in the USA that could be setup for production......and there was believe it or not, not a great deal of enthusiasm for such a deal in Whitehall.....