Buried among the defence cutbacks announced by the Prime Minister was the final nail in the coffin of probably the biggest public procurement scandal of this or any other decade, the final death knell of the RAF's Nimrod MR4A aircraft.

The project to supply a new maritime reconnaissance and patrol fleet has now been officially scrapped under this latest defence review has been a PR disaster for the MoD. After 18 years of development there are currently just three aircraft being trialled at RAF Kinloss, none of them will ever enter service. In total, under successive Conservative and Labour governments, the project has cost more than £3 billion designing an aircraft that will now never fly.

Following the early retirement of the older Nimrod MR2 model after a fatal crash in Afghanistan that killed 16 in 2006. Britain's defences have been working without a long range airborne maritime patrol capability, this will now become a long term arrangement.

Originally planned to become operational in 2003, project delays meant the MRA4 fleet was eventually expected to enter service in 2012. Twenty-one of the aircraft were originally ordered by the MoD with the number of airframes reduced: first to 18 and then to 12 before the government finally settled on just nine aircraft before the latest round of cuts put paid to the project completely.

Flawed form the start, the design was essentially still based on the 1960s airframe of a Comet passenger liner, the project was beset by problems and the National Audit Office confirmed in 2006 it was nearly £1 billion over budget with still no confirmed in-service date.

Britain's "spy in the sky's" main job was to monitor foreign submarines in the North Atlantic and also to act as the eyes and ears of Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent in home waters. But the Nimrod's role was far more wide ranging than conventional warfare alone. It was seen by the RAF as a vital maritime resource to keep seaways open, protect fishing grounds, oil and gas installations and provide a long range airborne search and rescue capability.

It would appear without the aircraft RAF Kinloss is itself is now probably surplus to requirements. If the MR4A had been delivered on time and on budget, maybe both would still be an integral part of Britain's defences. Just like the wasted billions though, this is a question no one in the MoD is ever likely to have to answer.