Article Posted on : - Apr 04, 2017

The US Navy has announced a contract for 17 additional P-8A Poseidon plus provisions for 32 more aircraft, bringing their total contracted aircraft to 97. A Boeing photo

SEATTLE (BNS): Boeing has received a contract worth US$ 2.2 billion to deliver a total of 17 P-8A Poseidon long-range maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) to the US Navy and the Air Forces of Australia and UK.

While the US Navy will receive 11 of the MPAs, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) will get four. The UK Royal Air Force's first two P-8As are also part of the agreement, with first delivery set for 2019, Boeing announced on April 3.

The agreement also includes options for 32 additional aircraft, as well as money for long-lead parts for future orders. After exercising all options, the total contract value will be $6.8 billion, the company said.

Boeing has so far delivered 53 Poseidons to the US Navy and two to the RAAF. The British Defence Ministry had in July 2016 announced to procure a total of nine P-8As for its Air Force.

The P-8A Poseidon multi-role aircraft is based on the Boeing 737-800 airframe with state-of-the art equipment for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions along with anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare operations.

The US Navy has deployed multiple squadrons of the aircraft around the globe since its operations began in 2013.

The Indian Navy also flies the P-8I variant of the aircraft. It has received eight aircraft to date and has signed a contract in July 2016 for four more P-8Is.