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Nimrod MR1 & E-3D AWACS
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Great Britain is conducting a parallel set of efforts to update its fleet. One multi-billion pound program seeks to upgrade 12 of its unique Nimrod Mk2 maritime patrol aircraft to Nimrod MRA4 status.

The other effort, named Project HELIX, sought to keep its related Nimrod R1 electronic and signals intelligence/ relay aircraft fleet flying until 2025. A 9 month assessment phase involving L-3, Lockheed, and Northrop-Grumman was down-selected to L-3 and Lockheed Martin in 2005. In April 2007, L-3’s team won the Phase 3 risk reduction contract, and became the preferred bidder for the main HELIX contract in 2009.

An October 2008 DSCA request cast doubt on that effort, by conveying Britain’s official $1+ billion request to field 3 RC-135V/W Rivet Joint ELINT/SIGINT aircraft. Now sources are saying that the deal is all but done…

• The RC-135 Rivet Joint
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Other Options?

The RC-135 Rivet Joint

RC-135V/W Rivet Joint
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The USA operates 15 of these in-demand aircraft, which have been used in both Iraq wars, and can also be found over missions like Bosnia, Haiti, et al. Their extended “thimble” noses and cheek fairings are very recognizable, and have given them the nickname “hogs”. The USAF’s fleet went from 14 to 15 in 1999 with the addition of a converted C-135B.

If this contract goes through, Britain will become the only Rivet Joint operator in the world outside of the United States. The sensitivity of its technologies are such that only a very few countries would even be considered for a sale; Australia, Britain, Canada, and possibly Japan would likely exhaust the potential list.

Rivet Joint aircraft are so important that they are assigned tasks at the national level, above even theater commanders like CENTCOM. Their crews’ job is to collect and relay signals and communications, snooping on enemy transmissions and radar emissions. The planes are advanced enough to precisely locate, record and analyze much of what is being done in the electromagnetic spectrum within their coverage area, which is large enough to cover most countries over the course of a mission flight. They can convey this information, or relay other high bandwidth communications, using a communications array that includes satellite channels, the Tactical Digital Information Link (TADIL/A), the Tactical Information Broadcast Service (TIBS), and other options.

American RC-135V/Ws can be refueled in the air, using the USAF’s standard dorsal intake. Britain standardized on the rival hose-and-probe system used by the US Navy, however; its current and future aerial tankers lack the aerial boom structure required to refuel dorsal intakes, though their E-3D AWACS planes have a receptacle that allows them to receive fuel from boom-equipped aircraft. It will be interesting to see how this aspect of the KC-135Rs’ conversion is handled, if the contract goes through.

Contracts and Key Events

Rivet Joint, incoming?
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Jan 13/10: Flight International reports that Britain will sign a contract for 3 RC-135s “within the next few weeks,” using stored American airframes modified by L-3 Communications Integrated Systems in the USA. The publication’s anonymous “senior military source” confirmed that an alternative proposal to leverage previous HELIX work, and refit the modernized Nimrod MRA4 fleet’s 3 development aircraft, had been rejected.

Recent decisions by the Brown Labour Party government will see the British Nimrod MR2 maritime patrol fleet phased out early as a cost-saving measure, but the ELINT/SIGINT function was reportedly deemed to be an essential capability.

Dec 22/09: The Maccleesfield Express reports that:

“A cross-party group of MPs including Sir Nicholas Winterton plus top bosses from BAE met with Defence Procurement minister Quentin Davies to discuss the possibility of further work at [BAE Woodford] which would delay the scheduled closure in 2012 for another 18 months. They had hoped to secure a contract for three new Nimrod R1 Reconnaissance planes to keep the 1,100 workers in employment, but Mr Davies said they have chosen to use American aircraft due to and [sic] intermediate deal to share planes until the new ones are ready.”

Aug 20/09: Aviation International:

“More than a year after U.S. defense officials offered three RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft as a replacement for the same number of Royal Air Force BAE Nimrod R1 signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft, the UK Ministry of Defence has not made a decision… But the Nimrod SIGINT replacement seems to have fallen afoul of the UK’s defense budget squeeze. The MoD told AIN that a decision would be made late this year, and the R1s would be extended in service if necessary.

...But sources on both sides of the Atlantic…. said that even the remanufactured Nimrod would offer only 60 percent of the required capability, because of power and aperture considerations. Moreover it could not be in service until 2015, and would cost three times as much to operate as the Rivet Joint…. the sources said the actual cost to the UK [of RC-135s] would be closer to the $750 million that was originally budgeted for the Helix upgrade…. the three airframes on offer to the UK are… the youngest KC-135s in the U.S. fleet; have already been updated with modern CFM56 turbofans and cockpit avionics; and are good for service until 2045…. AIN understands that U.S. officials have assured the MoD that unique British requirements and sensors–such as QinetiQ’s Tigershark communications intelligence (COMINT) system – could be incorporated in the three Rivet Joints for the RAF. This and other British technology might also find a place on the larger U.S. fleet, sources told AIN. An informed U.S. source also addressed British concerns that the Rivet Joint system concentrates on COMINT at the expense of electronic intelligence (ELINT). He said… “they will get over it. An Rivet Joint configuration is not as ELINT-oriented, but today’s environment doesn’t really need an ELINT-heavy system.”

Oct 2/08: The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announces [PDF] the United Kingdom’s formal request to convert 3 USAF KC-135R aircraft into RC-135V/W Rivet Joint aircraft, used for communications relay, electronic surveillance, and related tasks. The order would also include 3 APX-119 Identification Friend or Foe Systems, 3 LN-100GT Inertial Reference Units, 5 Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (Link 16) terminals, 18 ARC-210 Radios and 28 ARC-210 Radio control heads, plus modification kits, integration and installation, Ground Distributed Processing Station, Modular Processing System, Airborne Capability Extension System, mission trainer, tools and test equipment, spare and repair parts, and other forms of support.

The estimated cost is $1.068 billion. DSCA adds:

“The United Kingdom’s troops are deployed in support of Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, where U.S. assets currently provide this proposed capability. By acquiring this capability, the United Kingdom will be able to provide the same level of protection for its own forces and those of the United States.”

If a future Rivet Joint contract does mean the loss of Project HELIX, L-3 still comes out ahead. They are the Rivet Joint’s principal contractor, and L3 Communications of Greenville, TX would perform these conversions.

The re-engined KC-135Rs (related to Boeing’s 707s) will fit in with Britain’s E-3D Sentry AWACS fleet, which uses the same airframe and already has a comprehensive through-life support program. As such, they present no maintenance and support issues for Britain.

Other Options?

UK’s ASTOR Sentinel R1
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Britain did have other options besides the RC-135V/W.

The RAF recently inducted its ultra-modern ASTOR Sentinel R1 aircraft into service, which uses a modified Bombardier Global Express long-range business jet to provide outstanding long-range ground surveillance and command and control capabilities. The same platform could have been modified to perform the SIGINT/ELINT role, and in fact Lockheed Martin had proposed this very combination for the USA’s canceled and recently restarted ACS SIGINT/ELINT aircraft program.

The difference between the ASTOR ELINT and the RC-135V/W Rivet Joint comes down to development costs and known capabilities. A new version of the Sentinel R1 would require a full design and integration phase, starting from zero, with all of the attendant risks. Capabilities might be very high with the approach, and operating costs would be lower; but problems could also arise with integration, and the airframe is much smaller than the Rivet Joint’s 707-related base airframe.

When development costs and potential overruns are added to the likely purchase costs, Britain appears to have concluded that the RC-135V/W was its best option. It, too, offered platform commonality with RAF aircraft (E-3D), plus precisely known capabilities and purchase costs, the benefits of joint operation with the USA from common bases like Diego Garcia, and a partner who will finance the R&D needed for future upgrades.

Neither a modified ASTOR Sentinel R1, nor Britain’s existing Nimrod R1 fleet, can offer them those things.