Pierwszy samolot P-8A Poseidon wylądował na australijskiej ziemi. Sam przylot miał miejsce 14 listopada, ale 16 odbyła się wielka uroczystość w której brał udział Premier Malcolm Turnbull.
Poza już dostarczoną maszyną zaplanowano dostawy jeszcze siedmiu sztuk.
Innymi odbiorcami tych maszyn są Indie, gdzie noszą one oznaczenie P-8i oraz Wielka Brytania, która chce zakupić dziewięć samolotów.
Australia’s first P-8A arrived in the capital city of Canberra November 16, carrying Australia’s Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and other senior government leaders.
“The Poseidon is a cutting edge surveillance and anti-submarine aircraft which will dominate the skies around our nation’s coastline,” Prime Minister Turnbull said. “We just had a demonstration of some of the very impressive capabilities on board this morning. It is a potent and highly versatile aircraft.”
This is the first of eight Australian P-8As under contract with Boeing as part of a cooperative program with the U.S. Navy begun in 2009 to collaborate on the aircraft’s development. Four additional Poseidons have been approved and funded by the Australian government. In addition to the US Navy, the Indian Navy flies the P-8I variant and the United Kingdom has confirmed its purchase of nine of the P-8A variant.
The P-8A Poseidon is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations. A derivative of the Next-Generation 737-800, the P-8A combines superior performance and reliability with an advanced mission system that ensures maximum interoperability in the future battle space. The aircraft is militarized with maritime weapons, a modern open mission system architecture, and commercial-like support for affordability.
Źródło: Boeing
Zdjęcie: Boeing Australia