OVERVIEW:The Avro Shackleton was a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the South African Air Force (SAAF). It was developed by Avro from the Avro Lincoln bomber, which itself has been a development of the famous wartime Avro Lancaster bomber.

DETAILS:In April 1951, it entered operational service with the RAF. The Shackleton was used primarily in the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) roles; it was also frequently deployed as an aerial search and rescue (SAR) platform and for performing several other secondary roles such as mail delivery and as a crude troop-transport aircraft

Shackleton AEW.2

In 1971 Twelve MR 2s were converted at Woodford and Bitteswell as Airborne Early Warning aircraft, the first AEW.2 flew on 30 September 1971 and the type entered service with 8 Squadron on 1 January 1972.

SOURCE:Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. "Avro Shackleton - Wikipedia." n.d. Accessed September 8, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Shackleton#Variants. 