Boeing
handed over the seventh production P-8A Poseidon to the U.S. Navy on
schedule March 29, marking the first delivery from the second low-rate
initial production contract awarded in November 2011.
The maritime patrol aircraft departed Boeing Field in Seattle for Naval
Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., where it joined six P-8As currently
being used to train Navy crews.
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"This
is our second P-8A delivery of 2013, and we'll continue to provide the
Navy with new Poseidon aircraft at a rate of nearly one a month,"
said Rick Heerdt, Boeing vice president and P-8 program manager. "We've
got a full factory of P-8As for the U.S. Navy and P-8I aircraft for
India, and we're working side-by-side with both customers to introduce
the aircraft's advanced capabilities into their fleets."
Boeing is on contract to build and support 24 P-8A aircraft as part
of three LRIP contracts awarded in 2011 and 2012. The Navy plans to
purchase 117 P-8As, which are based on the Next-Generation Boeing 737-800
platform. The versatile multi-mission aircraft provides broad long-range
maritime patrol capabilities -- anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface
warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance -- and will replace
the Navy P-3 fleet. |
