Boeing has launched the first of 12 P-8A Poseidon aircraft for use by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
The new maritime patrol aircraft is based on Boeing’s 737-800 fuselage, and will replace a fleet of AP-3C Orion aircraft currently in service with RAAF.
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The Orion aircraft is based at RAAF Base Edinburgh and will be replaced over the next three years.
RAAF chief air marshal Leo Davies said: “The P-8A is the latest in a pedigree of Boeing aircraft that have provided important and significant operational capability to Australia.
“This history includes the C-17A Globemaster, E-7A Wedgetail, F/A-18 Classic Hornet, F/A-18F Super Hornet, Helicopter Aircrew Training System and in the near future E/A-18G Growler.”
The P-8A is equipped with weapons bay, under wing and under fuselage hard points for weapons and is designed for continued low level operations and high angle of bank turns.
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By GlobalDataThe first aircraft will arrive in Australia on 15 November, with the remaining 11 aircraft to be delivered by March 2020, RAAF said in a statement.
Aircrew and maintenance personnel for the P-8A are being trained since early 2015 by working alongside the US Navy at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida.
The first P-8A Australian pilot flew a four-hour sortie on 14 April 2015.
The aircraft is capable of conducting long-range anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, along with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. It can also be used for broad-area maritime and littoral operations.
Image: A P-8A Poseidon flying alongside a Lockheed P-3 Orion. Photo: courtesy of US Navy photo by Liz Goettee.
