Article Posted on : - Jan 28, 2011

P-8A Poseidon aircraft. Photo: Boeing.

SEATTLE (BNS): US Navy has awarded a $1.6 billion contract to Boeing for low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the six P-8A Poseidon aircraft.

The LRIP-1 contract includes spares, logistics and training devices.

The US Navy is planning to purchase 117 of the Boeing 737-based P-8A anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to replace its P-3 fleet. Initial operational capability is planned for 2013, according to a Boeing news release.

"This first production contract represents a significant commitment by the US Navy to recapitalise its force of long-range maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft," Capt. Leon Bacon, P-8A deputy program manager for the Navy, was quoted as saying in the release.

As part of the US Navy System Development and Demonstration contract awarded to Boeing in 2004, the team is building and testing six flight-test and two ground-test aircraft.

The first three flight-test planes, T1, T2 and T3, are completing testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. The programme’s static test plane, S1, recently completed its test programme, which began in May 2009; S2, the fatigue test plane, will begin testing later this year.

The Poseidon aircraft is built by a Boeing-led industry team of contractors that includes CFM International, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Spirit AeroSystems, BAE Systems and GE Aviation.