Poseidon & EP-X

Boeing’s 737 military derivatives mature

Boeing officially rolled out a P-8A Poseidon test aircraft for the US Navy at a ceremony at its Renton facility in Seattle on July 30. The aircraft, one of the first two of a planned six flight test aircraft, was presented to Navy, Boeing and local officials at the facility despite these first aircraft having already flown in April and June this year.

The P-8A is the third military derivative of Boeing’s 737NG single aisle commercial airliner after the 737-700 BBJ-based C-40A/B/C Clipper cargo and personnel transport and the 737 AEW&C Wedgetail/Peace Eagle, and was chosen in 2004 by the US Navy under the previously known Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program to replace the bulk of its fleet of rapidly ageing P-3C Orions next decade. The 737-800-based P-8A beat out Lockheed Martin’s Orion 21 (P-7A) proposal, a radically enhanced P-3 with new GE T407 engines and structural and systems enhancements.