NIMROD MRA4 PROGRAMME LESSONS LEARNED - A TEST PILOT'S PERSPECTIVE

摘要

In December 1996, the UK awarded the contract to BAE Systems to develop the Nimrod MRA4, a replacement Maritime Patrol Aircraft for the Royal Air Force. In October 2010 the programme was cancelled just as the aircraft was due to enter service, 7 years late and approximately £789 million over budget. Cancelled aircraft projects are quickly forgotten; they are an embarrassment to all! However, significant lessons can be learned from them on individual and programme levels: the MRA4 programme pioneered an integrated military-industry Joint Test Team; the author had an "l-leamed-about-test-flying-from-that incident"; procurement of Commercial Off The Shelf equipment is never a cheap strategy but is one that continues to be propagated in the large aircraft arena; modification of legacy aircraft to a modern standard is not the cheapest or simplest option, no matter how it is portrayed at the contract bid stage. The paper seeks to examine these issues, at a level from the individual to the strategic, drawing on the author's personal experiences and observations. Some of the lessons contributed directly to the project's delay, cost and ultimate cancellation. The aim is to avoid that disappointment for future test pilots!