Article Posted on : - Jul 31, 2009

Boeing employees, US Navy personnel, industry partners, suppliers and other officials gather around a P-8A Poseidon after its unveiling in Renton on Thursday. -- Image Credit: Boeing

SEATTLE (BNS): US aviation and defence major Boeing has formally unveiled P-8A Poseidon – the US Navy’s newest maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft – during a ceremony at its facility in Renton, Washington on Thursday.

A derivative of the next-generation 737-800, the P-8A is a long-range anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations, the company said in a statement here.

“The P-8A Poseidon will equip the US Navy with the most advanced multi-mission maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft in the world,” said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defence Systems.

“The Poseidon is also the latest in a decades-long Boeing tradition of working closely with the Navy and other customers to deliver a wide range of platforms that meet their most critical mission requirements,” the company chief said.

Replacing the US Navy's P-3C Orion aircraft, the P-8A will provide greater payload capacity, significant growth potential, unprecedented flexibility and interoperability, and advanced mission systems, software and communications, Albaugh added.

The integrated Navy/Boeing team will begin formal flight testing of the P-8A later this year. The US Navy plans to purchase 117 P-8As, and their initial operational capability is scheduled for 2013, the company said.

India is buying the earlier variant of P-8A aircraft – P-8I – the long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft for its Navy at a total cost of $2.1 billion. These aircraft would replace the aging Tupolev Tu-142M maritime surveillance turboprops.

The first P-8I is expected to be delivered to India in 2013 and the remaining seven by 2015, according to an agency report.