Boeing has handed over the seventh production P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft to the US Navy.
The maritime patrol aircraft departed Boeing Field in Seattle for Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, where it joined six P-8As currently being used to train Navy crews.
“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 US 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 Boeing 737-800 platform.
