P-8A Poseidon: Maritime surveillance capability delivery on schedule

Fabricated, painted, test flown and now receiving a systems fitout, the first of four P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft is just about ready to make the journey to its new home in Aotearoa.

The first of four P-8A Poseidon’s is due to arrive in New Zealand in December. The remaining three aircraft that make up this significant investment in strengthening Aotearoa’s maritime surveillance capability will be delivered to the Ministry of Defence by April 2023.

Official keeling ceremony took place in Wichita, Kansas, in March this year, ahead of the fuselages making their way to the Boeing factory in April. In July, the first of the P-8As rolled out of the paint factory, and in August the first P-8A got airborne for the first time, completing a test flight ahead of its systems fitout.

The project is on schedule to replace the P-3K2 Orion fleet from 2023. Like the Orions, the Poseidon aircraft will deliver support to New Zealand’s peace and security operations, maritime surveillance, resource protection, humanitarian and disaster responses, here in New Zealand, the Pacific, and further abroad.

The P-8A Poseidon is a multimission aircraft that was developed to replace the P-3C Orion for longrange maritime patrol in the United States Navy. It has also been selected by Australia, the United Kingdom and Norway and a variant is used by India. The P-8A has been designed and purpose built to patrol maritime environments and monitor vessels on and below the surface.

The P-8A is a military aircraft based on the commercial Boeing 737-800 fuselage. However, it has been substantially modified to include a weapons bay, hard points, increased electrical generation capacity, Boeing 737-900 wings, and structural strengthening for military operations.

The aircraft is produced by Boeing Defense, Space and Security in Seattle, USA.

The P-8A has modern surveillance sensors, electronic support measures, self-protection systems and a communications suite of radios, data links and satellite communication. A fuel capacity of almost 34 tonnes, gives the P-8A the ability to remain on station 2,000 kilometres from base.

The RNZAF took delivery of five P-3B Orions in 1966, and in 1985 an ex-RAAF P-3B was purchased. All six Orion aircraft were upgraded under project RIGEL in the early 1980s and the re-designation P-3K was applied to these aircraft. Their latest upgrade saw them redesignated as P-3K2.

Statistics

Aircraft P-3K2 Orion P-8A Poseidon

Wingspan 30.4m (99ft) Length 36m (117ft)

37.64m (123.6 ft) 39.47m (129.5 ft) Height 0.3m (34ft) 12.83m 942.1 ft) Propulsion Four Allison T56-A 14 engines, Two CFM56-7B engines (4,600 shaft horsepower) 27,300 lbs thrust Speed 630km/h (340kts) 902km/h (490 kts) Range 1,000nm with 4 hours on station 1,200 nm with 4 hours on station Crew 12 9