"LRIP-II brings the P-8A program one step closer to delivering
the Poseidon to the fleet," said Capt. Scott Dillon, P-8A deputy
program manager for the Navy.
Boeing completed assembly of the first LRIP-I aircraft at its Renton,
Wash., facility this summer. The aircraft subsequently completed a
successful first flight July 7, 2011, from Renton Field to Boeing
Field, which marked its transition from fabrication and assembly to
mission system installation and checkout in Seattle.
The Poseidon team is using a first-in-industry in-line production
process that draws on Boeing's Next-Generation 737 production system.
All P-8A-unique aircraft modifications are made in sequence during
fabrication and assembly.
The team has built and is testing six flight-test and two ground-test
aircraft under the U.S. Navy System Development and Demonstration
contract awarded to Boeing in 2004. Four flight-test aircraft -- T1,
T2, T3 and T5 -- are conducting testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent
River, Md. The program's static test plane, S1, completed its test
program in January. S2, the fatigue test plane, will begin testing
next year. Initial operational capability is planned for 2013.
A derivative of the Next-Generation 737-800, the Poseidon is built
by a Boeing-led industry team that includes CFM International, Northrop
Grumman, Raytheon, Spirit AeroSystems, BAE Systems and GE Aviation.
From: Boeing press release