BAe reviews Nimrod MRA4 progress

    June 18th, 1999

    Under a £2 billion contract awarded in July 1996, British Aerospace is re-manufacturing 21 existing Nimrod airframes to create the Nimrod MRA4, the Royal Air Force's new maritime, reconnaissance and attack aircraft. Nimrod MRA4 will equipped with the latest in sensors and mission systems for the "three-in-one" maritime patrol mission. This includes anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface unit warfare (ASUW) and search and rescue (SAR).

    Nimrod MPA4

    The Nimrod is the only jet-powered maritime patrol aircraft in service. Its rival turboprop-powered aircraft are slower, whereas Nimrod's speed dash capability gets the aircraft to the scene of operations faster and at higher altitudes where the air is smoother and so with less crew fatigue. Another crew factor is that there is less noise and vibration which can increase crew fatigue and degrade on-board equipment serviceability.

    Work on the airframe has reached significant milestones:

  • In 1998 three MRA2s were stripped down to their fuselage and the wing/wing box removed. FR Aviation at Bournemouth is one of the 200 companies engaged on the programme under the leadership of prime contractor British Aerospace and is equipping the airframes with new wings, new undercarriage and new-technology and general avionic systems. These three aircraft (Pa1/ PA2/ PA3) have been subject to non-destructive testing and the earlier aircraft have been given a "clean bill of health" for future use in the programme.

  • The pressure floor completed its design and manufacture and the first of these very large and important components has now been installed in PAl.

  • The wing centre box, which is critical to the real start of manufacturing has all but completed its design process. The majority of the 3D computer based models needed to manufacture these very large and complex components are now complete, enabling a series of detail manufacturing activities to commence leading to an "in-jig" date for the wing of mid 1999.

    Missions systems progress has paralleled that of the airframe. In particular Boeing, who have a large on-site presence at British Aerospace in Warton, Lancashire, opened their Systems Integration Lab in November 1998. This new facility has enabled them to start their systems integration activities and software development phase. Similarly British Aerospace's new Iron Bird Test Rig facility will enable the aircraft's external surfaces and components to be properly tested and exercised.

    British Aerospace are close to concluding Detail Engineering of all elements of the aircraft Mission Systems such as Utilities, and Flight Deck.

    During 1998 there were significant slippage in the overall programme and progress was not at the rate required to meet the challenging MRA4 programme and project requirements. The use of new engineering toolsets, project management toolsets and the overall complexity of the product were recognised as contributory factors.

    These issues have since been resolved and following discussions with the UK's Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), a revised programme and performance specification which included enhancements to the end product, particularly the inclusion of SR(A)903 Active Sonobuoy, has recently been agreed with the DPA.

    REF XQQEE XQQAR

Please E-Mail Company News Releases and Exhibitor Information to the Editor


editor@defence-data.com


webmaster@defence-data.com
Copyright(c) 1996-1999 Defence Data Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium is prohibited except as provided in the Conditions of Use. The Defence Data logo is the trademark of Defence Data Ltd. Defence Systems Daily is the trademark of Defence Data Ltd. By using this Web Site, you agree to all of the Conditions of Use.