Regeneration game: UK maritime surveillance and the MPA gap

摘要

The decision to write off the Royal Air Force's (RAF's) Nimrod MRA.4 programme and gap the UK's long-range maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) capability was one of the most controversial outcomes of the October 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). The MRA.4 was intended as a replacement for the Nimrod MR.2, which retired from service in March 2010, and would have provided enhanced anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-surface warfare capabilities, maritime reconnaissance and strategic intelligence collection, search-and-rescue (SAR) support, and a surface-attack capability.