Air Power: P-8A Poseidon project overview | ADM Feb 2011
In July 2007, then Defence Minister Brendan Nelson announced that the Boeing P-8A had been selected as the preferred aircraft for AIR7000 Phase 2 - the $4 billion project to acquire a manned Maritime Patrol and Response Aircraft (MPRA).
The P-8A Poseidon, in conjunction with the as yet-unselected unmanned aerial system being acquired under AIR 7000 Phase 1, would replace the capability currently provided by the AP-3C Orion which was planned to retire in 2018 after 30 years of service.
The P-8A Poseidon is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations. A derivative of the B737-800, the P-8A combines superior performance and reliability with an advanced mission system that ensures maximum interoperability in the future battle space. It will be capable of broad-area, maritime, littoral and limited overland operations.
First pass approval has been granted to allow Defence to commence formal negotiations with the US Navy (USN) to participate in the cooperative development of the P-8A. In March 2009, Australia’s Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Mark Binskin stated that subject to anticipated government approval, the RAAF would begin to add the P-8A to their fleet in 2016. Australia signed an MOU with the USN in 2009 and will collaborate in Increment 2.
Boeing has opened a new aircraft production facility near Boeing Field in Seattle where mission systems will be installed and tests will be carried out on the P-8. The facility will initially handle the completion work for the P-8A Poseidon aircraft for the USN and the P-8I aircraft for the Indian navy, and will also be used to finish aircraft for future P-8 customers. The USN plans to purchase 117 P-8A aircraft which will replace its existing P-3 fleet, with initial operational capability scheduled for 2013. Boeing is scheduled to deliver the first P-8I to the Indian Navy by January 2013, with the remaining seven aircraft due by 2015.
Boeing says it is using a proven in-line production process to efficiently design and build the aircraft, with all aircraft modifications unique to the P-8 made in sequence during fabrication and assembly. Recently, one of two static test planes completed full scale testing on the P-8A airframe. The first static test aircraft underwent 154 different tests with no failure of the primary structure. The second aircraft will begin fatigue testing this year.
As ADM went to press, the USN announced the award of a US$1.6 billion contract to Boeing for P-8A Poseidon aircraft Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) of six aircraft. This first LRIP contract also includes spares, logistics and training devices. Production of the first LRIP aircraft will begin this northern summer at Boeing’s Renton, Washington, facility.