The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod was a military aircraft developed and built in the United Kingdom. It is an extensive modification of the de Havilland Comet, the world's first jet airliner. It was originally designed by de Havilland's successor, Hawker Siddeley, now part of BAE Systems.
It was designed as a Royal Air Force maritime patrol aircraft, the Nimrod MR1/MR2, its major role being anti-submarine warfare (ASW), although it also had secondary roles in maritime surveillance and anti-surface warfare. It served from the early 1970s until March 2010. The Nimrod series was due to be replaced by the now cancelled Nimrod MRA4.
In addition to the three Maritime Reconnaissance variants, two further Nimrod types were developed. The RAF also used the Nimrod R1 variant in an electronic intelligence gathering (ELINT) role, while the Nimrod AEW3 was intended as a dedicated airborne early warning platform in the early-to-mid 1980s; this was unsuccessful and was cancelled in 1986 in favour of the Boeing E-3 Sentry.
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