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Two separate contracts signed in recent days show how the RAAF’s acquisition of the P-8A Poseidon is gathering pace.
On June 30 a US Department of Defence statement detailed that Boeing has been awarded a contract for the procurement of long-lead items for the manufacture of the P-8A Poseidon that includes four RAAF aircraft. The US$359 million modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract also covers 25 aircraft for the US Navy. It is the second contract covering long lead items for RAAF P-8As.
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Meanwhile, a day earlier CAE announced that Boeing has ordered simulator hardware for four additional P-8A operational flight trainers, two of which are for the RAAF’s P-8A training system. The RAAF operational flight trainers are scheduled for delivery to RAAF Base Edinburgh in late 2017, CAE stated.
The RAAF is set to receive eight Poseidon aircraft, with an option for four more subject to the outcomes of the 2015 Defence White Paper. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2017.
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Daryl
says:The wings on these P8’s look different to a regular 737.Do they have the wing sets off a 787.
PeterL
says:Daryl they have a wing tip similar to the 787.
Bill
says:The wingtip is a “Raked” wingtip, basically a scaled down version of that found on the 777-200LR and -300ER
Bill
says:But otherwise the wing is that found on the 737-900ER, and the fuselage is -800 length. The P-8 is the heaviest 737 version to date.
B. Harrison
says:I would like to know how on earth are 8 aircraft possibly going to do the job that an entire wing with 2 squadrons and up tp 20 aircraft was doing previously. Yes I know that they are far more sophisticated than the P3’s they are replacing but with maintenance, training and actual patrols the RAAF would be lucky to have 4 or 5 aircraft available at any one time. Which goes to the crux of the issue with Australia’s defence force and what is expected of it, it is far too small to do what this nation needs it to do. No one wants an arms race in Asia, but there are storm clouds on the horizon and token abilities with these amounts of aircraft and other military assets are just that, tokens.
Raymond
says:B. Harrison – the Orion fleet will be replaced by a mix of manned P-8A Poseidons and unmanned MQ-4C Tritons under the AIR 7000 program.
Furthermore, there are another four P-8A options for the RAAF (I’m guessing they will be taken up). The USN is planning on a 2:1 ratio of P-8A Poseidons to MQ-4C Tritons, and it appears that the RAAF is also working towards that ratio – 12 Poseidons (incl. the 4 options) and 6 Tritons. That’s an expected total of 18 airframes, which was the number of AP-3C’s.
So actually, numbers will be the same and endurance and capability greatly increased!