Britain forced to BORROW spy plane from U.S. after Government scraps Nimrod jets

By Ian Drury for the Daily Mail
Updated:

Britain has been forced to 'borrow' a spy plane from the U.S. to protect Royal Navy warships fighting in Libya.

Humiliated defence chiefs had to ask the Americans for help because the Government ditched the RAF's Nimrod MRA4 surveillance aircraft to save cash.

It means UK vessels taking part in the conflict - Type 42 destroyer HMS Liverpool, minesweeper HMS Brocklesby and hunter-killer nuclear submarine HMS Tireless, are being protected by a P-3 Orion maritime patrol aeroplane.

Plane embarrassing: UK defence chiefs have had to 'borrow' a P-3 Orion Maritime Patrol aircraft from the U.S. to use as an 'airborne observation post'

Plane embarrassing: UK defence chiefs have had to 'borrow' a P-3 Orion Maritime Patrol aircraft from the U.S. to use as an 'airborne observation post'

The role would have been performed by the new Nimrod spy planes but ministers controversially axed the £4.1billion fleet in the defence review in a cost-cutting drive to save £2billion over 10 years.

Cuts: Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton said the RAF needs 'more investment'

Sir Stephen Dalton admitted that Nimrod planes 'would have been useful in Libya'

Wrecking crews chopped up the first of the reconnaissance aircraft, which cost £450million each, earlier this year.

There is one Nimrod MR1 surveillance aircraft operating in the skies over Libya but it is tasked with intercepting enemy communications and signals.

But this is not scouring the seas for enemy threats.

One source said: 'Because we no longer have the Nimrod capability we have had to borrow a plane from the Americans to act as the airborne observation post.

'It's all deeply embarrassing that we've had to go cap in hand to them. The defence review did not consider something like Libya ever happening. Now it has we've been caught short.'

Giving evidence to the Commons Defence Select Committee last week the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, admitted Nimrod spy planes would have been useful in Libya.

He said: 'The availability of Nimrod would have helped in terms of some of the early stages along securing the northern coastal waters of Libya.

'It could have been deployed there very quickly, it could have been maintained there because it is a long-range, long-endurance aeroplane and it had the sensor suite that would have allowed us to have the perfect picture.'

A MOD spokesman said: 'We are part of a NATO alliance and we will continue to work with our partners pooling our assets as and when required.'

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