The concentration of the UK's intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) aircraft at a single base is emerging as a centrepiece of a Royal Air Force review of its future basing plans.
Flight International understands that plans are being developed by RAF Strike Command to base its future BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4s at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire rather than, as currently planned, at RAF Kinloss in Scotland. The latter is home base to its existing fleet of Nimrod MR2 maritime patrol aircraft.
Planning for the entry into service of the MRA4 fleet from 2009 gathered momentum after last month's debut flight, with senior RAF officers and BAE executives increasingly confident the long-delayed programme is over the worst and that a production go-ahead will be given by late next year.
The reduction of the planned MRA4 purchase from 18 to 12 aircraft has dramatically altered the economics of basing the aircraft, say RAF officers. It is now feasible to base the smaller Nimrod force at Waddington alongside the RAF's Nimrod R1, Boeing E-3D Sentry and Raytheon Sentinel R1 ISTAR aircraft, creating synergies and improving training efficiency (Flight International, 31 August-6 September). Waddington's Rapier air defence squadron is also to be disbanded, creating more room at the base, while overflow capacity exists at nearby RAF sites including Scampton, Coningsby and Cranwell.
RAF sources say a move of the Nimrod force is not likely to lead to the closure of Kinloss after the MR2 fleet is retired by 2011. The base is one of the service's largest and boasts a large stock of housing for military personnel and their families, making it a prime candidate for redevelopment as one of the RAF's new "super bases".
The most likely candidate to take up residence at Kinloss is the UK's future fleet of 150 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, say RAF officers. The base's proximity to low flying training areas and bombing ranges in the north of Scotland are considered an added bonus.
The RAF says basing plans for the Nimrod force are still being "scoped" as part of the Defence Airbase Review. "As with the air combat service support unit review, we will first publish the options we are looking at," the service says. "We are not ruling anything out or anything in. We will look at each defence airfield, as well as current and future aircraft. In terms of time scales we will be in a position to talk about options early next year and the outcomes at the end of next year."
TIM RIPLEY / LONDON
Source: Flight International
