The third Boeing P-8A Poseidon made its first flight on July 29 at Boeing’s Renton facility in Seattle.
The aircraft, dubbed T3, will be devoted to mission system testing and weapon certification work in the test program when it joins the other two flight test aircraft at NAS Patuxent River near Washington DC.
The US Navy has ordered 117 P-8As to replace part of its fleet of P-3C Orion maritime reconnaissance aircraft from 2013.