RAF grounds new Nimrods as safety fears hit £3.6bn project

It comes against a background of accidents that led to the loss of 14 servicemen in a mid-air explosion over Afghanistan in 2006 when fuel from the tanks of a Nimrod MR2 leaked into hot air ducts.

The RAF, Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems were castigated in last year’s Haddon-Cave report into the crash, which accused them of putting budget targets ahead of safety.

It came after the entire Nimrod MR2 fleet was grounded by the MoD following further safety fears.

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