MoD urged to consider scrapping Nimrod

LONDON (Reuters) - The Ministry of Defence must decide whether it should "cut its losses" and abandon the Nimrod programme after a delay of some eight years and a near billion-pound overspend, a group of MPs said on Thursday.

The Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft, which has been blighted by development problems, will have racked up a further overrun of 100 million pounds in 2007/8, bringing the total over-budget figure to 800 million pounds.

The aircraft was originally announced in 1992 as a replacement for the Nimrod MR2, but has suffered technical problems.

The Commons Defence Committee said the MoD must "carefully examine whether it should cut its losses and withdraw from this sorry saga".

"The committee calls on the minister for defence equipment and support to assess whether the programme will ever deliver the capability required within the timescale needed and, if not, to withdraw from it," it added in a report.

Nimrod is one of a number of projects criticised by the MPs for overrunning on budget or deadline.

The committee reflected how "disappointing" it was that the first of the Navy's two new aircraft carriers will be without the new Joint Strike Fighter aircraft when they are expected to enter service in 2014 because of delays.

The A400M transport aircraft is also expected to enter service two years late.

The MoD's equipment programme was "unaffordable" and sacrifices needed to be made as part of the Planning Round, the MPs said.