Andrew Brookes, a defence analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies and a former RAF pilot, said the grounding of planes could temporarily impact on campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We would keep our troops in barracks if we did not have the wherewithall to carry out operations," he said.
BY GERRI PEEV AND FRANK URQUHART
SAFETY fears over the ageing RAF Nimrod surveillance planes were reignited following revelations that the entire fleet had been grounded after the discovery of a fuel pipe dent.
The MoD was forced to take all of the operational MR2 reconnaissance aircraft in its 23-strong fleet out of service two days ago as a "precautionary measure" for safety checks.
Although some of them were back in service yesterday, the news reawakened painful memories for families of those who died in a Nimrod crash last year when its engine burst into flames. The plane carrying 12 crew from RAF Kinloss in Moray, a Royal Marine and a soldier, went down west of Kandahar in September after a suspected fuel-line failure following mid-air refuelling at 20,000ft.
A board of inquiry has yet to report its final findings and the MoD was keen to play down any similarities between the latest problems and last year's crash.
Meanwhile, a series of bureaucratic bungles has delayed until 2010 the procurement of the replacement Nimrod MR4s - seven years behind the initial deadline.
Angus Robertson, the SNP MP for Moray, said: "This underlines the need to finalise the replacement of the current Nimrod aircraft with the new generation of aircraft as a priority."
There were also concerns last night of the impact on troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, who would be effectively left fighting blind if they were sent into battle without the use of the strategic aircraft which can fly for long stretches without refuelling and are used for surveillance. Domestic search-and-rescue operations at sea would also be hampered by the grounding of the aircraft.
Andrew Brookes, a defence analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies and a former RAF pilot, said the grounding of planes could temporarily impact on campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We would keep our troops in barracks if we did not have the wherewithall to carry out operations," he said.
In a statement, the MoD insisted that the safety of personnel was paramount.
"Following a routine check on 21 February, a dent was found in the fuel pipe of one of the Nimrod MR2 planes," the statement said. "As a precautionary measure the fleet was grounded while the issue was investigated. These investigations are ongoing, but some of the aircraft have been cleared of this problem and we expect others to follow shortly."
However, the widow of one of the servicemen killed in the Afghan crash yesterday accused the MoD of keeping bereaved families in the dark about the decision to ground the fleet.
Rayna Quilliam, the wife of Sergeant Gary Quilliam, claimed that the families had been given no official information about the safety alert and that senior officers at RAF Kinloss had even denied that planes had been grounded. She said: "My fear is that they will do a bit of soldering and stick the damn things back up in the air."
Last night, a spokeswoman from RAF Kinloss said
the MoD had been "open and honest" with families who had been in touch.
