Nimrod: Rise and Fall

The scrapping of the Nimrod program has been one of the mostcontroversial events in the military aviation world for many ayear.For most of its operational life, from 1969 to date, itscontribution to the defense of the realm and its role in offensiveduties was, of necessity, often shrouded in secrecy. It was the‘eye in the sky’ which was absolutely vital to a host of activities– from anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, to support of landbattles throughout the world, to the Falklands campaign, tocombating drug-running, the Nimrod’s unsung role was paramount.And now the UK is bereft of such a multi-tasking reconnaissanceaircraft.The full story of the Nimrod, and its significance, now needs tobe told. Tony Blackman, who was there at the beginning, test-flewnearly every aircraft and was at Kinloss on the very day theproject was canceled, has written this timely book, Nimrod Rise andFall, covering every facet of its history, its weapons systemdevelopments and its tragic accidents. He writes in an approachableway, making technical subjects understandable but his conclusionswill, inevitably, not be welcomed by everyone.