Article Posted on : - Aug 03, 2010

The T3 takes off from Boeing Field in Seattle on July 29. A Boeing photo

SEATTLE (BNS): US Navy’s third P-8A Poseidon long-range maritime patrol aircraft, T3, has successfully completed its maiden flight test recently.

Boeing-designed T3, which is the third in the series of Poseidons to enter flight trial after T1 and T2, took to the skies from Seattle on July 29, Boeing announced.

During the two-hour and 48-minute flight from Boeing Field, Boeing and US Navy test pilots performed airborne systems checks including engine accelerations and decelerations, autopilot flight modes, and auxiliary power unit and engine shutdowns and starts, the company said.

The new aircraft will now join the other two Poseidons, presently based at the US naval base at Patuxent River, Maryland, to complete additional ground and flight tests. The T2 aircraft had recently completed its first mission systems flight test in June.

The T3 is the mission-system and weapon-certification aircraft of the Poseidon programme. A total of six Poseidons which are to be flight tested are being assembled and tested as part of the US Navy System Development and Demonstration contract Boeing received in 2004.

The P-8A multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft is based on a Boeing 737-800 airframe with state-of-the art equipment for maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare.

The intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft is being designed to replace the US Navy’s P-3C Orion aircraft.
The Navy plans to buy 117 P-8As, the first of which is expected to be delivered by 2013.