BAE Nimrod R1

Development and the original aircraft

Three additional Nimrod airframes were ordered to replace the RAF’s ageing Comet R2 electronic-intelligence aircraft. They were built at Woodford alongside the maritime aircraft, with the first delivered to RAF Wyton in July 1971. Their designation was Reconnaissance Mk 1, shortened to R1.

The R1’s electronic-intelligence equipment and aerials gave it a different purpose from the maritime Nimrod. It contributed to the Falklands conflict in 1982. The aircraft’s role was to gather information from electronic emissions, rather than search for submarines with the MR2’s combination of radar, sonobuoys and magnetic detection.

Airframe, engines and recognition

The Comet-derived airframe has a swept wing and four Spey turbofans installed in pairs at the wing roots. The R1 has no magnetic anomaly detector boom at the tail. Its additional upper and lower aerials include a different collection-system installation from the maritime version.

The R1 dimensions published in 2003 are 117 ft 8 in long, approximately 35.9 m, with a span of 115 ft, approximately 35.1 m. Each engine is rated at more than 12,000 lbf of thrust. These figures apply to the R1 rather than the maritime version.

Long loiter time and air-to-air refuelling help the aircraft remain on task. R1 flying generally took place at high altitude, in contrast to the maritime Nimrod’s frequent low-level work over the sea. A role does not prescribe one fixed height or speed for every flight.

Signals collection and the crew

Electronic-support equipment detects and analyses electromagnetic emissions. Direction-finding helps establish where an emission comes from; its characteristics can help specialists recognise the source. Collection and analysis provide a different kind of information from an air-surveillance radar picture.

The R1 flight crew comprised two pilots, a flight engineer and a navigator. Up to 25 people operated its mission equipment, allowing a total complement of up to 29. A mission supervisor was also included in the 2003 crew arrangement. Crew numbers describe capacity and organisation, rather than a fixed headcount on every sortie.

The collection equipment changed during the aircraft’s career. The automated system tested under Project Extract in 2003 was a later development, not the equipment standard to assume for a 1998 aircraft.

The fleet and its bases

No. 51 Squadron moved from RAF Wyton to RAF Waddington on 1 April 1995 with the Nimrod R1. In 1995, XW666 was lost following an engine fire. A maritime Nimrod, XV249, was converted to replace it and delivered in December 1996, restoring the three-aircraft force.

This replacement explains why an MR2 airframe appears in the R1’s history. Conversion changed its mission and equipment; it did not make the operational R1 interchangeable with the maritime MR2. The common Nimrod name covers aircraft with substantially different jobs.