The US Air Force isn’t the only one with planes falling out of the sky. British MoD officials report that the September Nimrod crash that killed 14 RAF members was caused by a leaky fuel line. Both the Royal and US Air Forces operate archaic fleets of aircraft, both are trying to modernize, and neither is getting the funding it needs.
All Nimrods are to be banned from refuelling in mid-air but will not be grounded. The crash raised renewed doubts about the ability of the MoD to cope with the demands placed on frontline forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Tory defence spokesman Gerald Howarth said it was a “scandal” that a replacement for the Nimrod was four years overdue, and had been delayed by another four years.
Many of our B-52s, KC-135s, C-130s, and some of our F-15s and F-16s are older than the Nimrod. Just sayin’.
