Scott Nicholas
Boeing has built and delivered its 50th P-8A Poseidon aircraft for the U.S. Navy‘s anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
The Navy said Thursday it accepted the new unit at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida, and expects to complete the branch’s fleet transition from P-3C to P-8A by fiscal year 2019.
“This is the first time a Navy combat aircraft was built from the ground up on a commercial production line,” said Tony Rossi, program manager for maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft at the Navy.
“This replacement for the P-3C builds on lessons-learned, while enhancing those capabilities with unique features, such as an electro-optical/infrared sensor turret and increased acoustic processing capability with 64 passive sonobuoys, 32 multistatic sonobuoys and concurrent passive and active processing,” Rossi added.
Navy noted that six active squadrons and one fleet replacement squadron at NASÂ Jacksonville have completed a P-8AÂ fleet transition training program.
The service branch also relocated the homeport of VP-4, the first west coast P-8A squadron, from Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii to a naval air station in Whidbey Island, Washington.
