Aircraft

By Craig Hoyle at Farnborough air show

BAE Systems received new contracts at the show to produce 12 Nimrod MRA4 maritime reconnaissance and attack aircraft for the UK Royal Air Force, and to provide continued support for the service's current maritime patrol fleet of 16 Nimrod MR2s until March 2011.

Announcing the MRA4 order, UK secretary of state for defence Des Browne said the new RAF aircraft "will be better equipped for the expeditionary challenges of the 21st century".

Improved contracting controls implemented when the Ministry of Defence and BAE restructured the troubled project in 2003 "restored confidence in the programme and brought stability to costs", he said.

"The crisis that the MoD and BAE had nearly four years ago on the programme is very firmly behind us," said BAE chief executive Mike Turner. "The MRA4 epitomises the UK's defence industrial strategy - it is a programme and a weapon system that is flexible, adaptable and suitable for spiral upgrade." The MRA4 made its first public appearance during a fly-past at the show on 18 July.

BAE and the MoD declined to provide pricing details on the MRA4 production deal, but UK Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) sources suggest it covers £1.1 billion ($2 billion) of a total development and production cost of under £3.8 billion. Development activities using three prototype MRA4s - which have already completed over 125 flights - are expected to conclude in the second quarter of 2008.

The RAF will receive its first aircraft - the programme's fourth - during 2009 and will stand up its first squadron of around five aircraft in 2010, the DPA says.

The MRA4 production deal will safeguard 1,000 jobs at BAE's Brough, Prestwick, Warton and Woodford sites, the company says. A planned programme to agree a full through-life support package for the aircraft is now in a two-year assessment phase, with the deal to initially cover a five-year transition period between operations of the MR2 and the MRA4.

Also confirmed at the show was a £65 million second phase to the existing Nimrod Integrated Support Contract (NISC) between the MoD and BAE. To cover the MR2 fleet until its planned retirement in March 2011, the deal will be further expanded to an availability-based deal under negotiations to start next year. Initiated in October 2002 under a £75 million contract, the NISC framework also provides support for the RAF's three Nimrod R1 electronic intelligence aircraft.