The British Aerospace Nimrod AEW.2 was designed to replace the RAF's ageing Shackleton Airborne Early Warning aircraft. The Shackleton was slow, had poor performance & was totally out of date. During the Cold War, it was clearly unacceptable to have a poor AEW aircraft, as the UK could easily be taken by surprise by Soviet strike aircraft. The Nimrod was selected as the basis for a new AEW aircraft. It would combine the existing Nimrod MR.Mk1's speed, endurance, range & efficiency with two Marconi pulse-Doppler radar in two bulbous radomes on the nose & tail, & new electronics systems to complement the new radar.

The RAF planned to buy 11 of these aircraft in the form of 'production line' conversions; MR chassis would be modified to AEW.2 standard on the production line. The Nimrod AEW had four 5,507kg (12,140lb) thrust Rolls-Royce RB.168-20 Spey Mk250 turbofans & a whole host of ESM, EWSM & ECM equipment, as well as a complex IFF & communications suite. These systems, it was hoped, would make the Nimrod AEW the most advanced AEW aircraft ever to serve with any air force in the world, but complications with the advanced systems delayed the project, which was eventually cancelled. The Boeing E-3 Sentry was ordered by the RAF instead.

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