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In
1973, the RAF had begun to examine the options for replacing the
Airborne Early Warning (AEW) variant of the Avro Shackleton. Boeing
offered the E-3A Sentry, but the over water performance of its radar was
judged to be poor. It was announced that a specialized version of the
Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod, the AEW.3 would be procured instead. The
aircraft would be based on the Nimrod MR.1 airframe but featured a large
bulbous radome in the nose and tail. The first AEW.3 flew in 1980. While
development of the radar electronics was proceeding, the Ministry of
Defence chose to impose a new and more stringent specification on the
radar system. Meeting the new requirement meant a lot of redesign and
retesting which delayed the planned in-service date for the aircraft. In
1984 a thorough review of the whole AEW programme was launched to
determine whether a reliable and effective system could be produced and
put into service. In September 1986 the AEW requirement was reopened to
competing bidders and in December of that year the Boeing E-3 Sentry was
declared the winner. The Nimrod AEW.3 was immediately cancelled
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