2nd Phase Of Low-Rate Initial Production Also Includes Spares,
Logistics And Training
The U.S. Navy has awarded Boeing a $1.7 billion low-rate initial
production (LRIP) for seven additional P-8A Poseidon maritime
surveillance aircraft. LRIP-II is the follow-on to an initial
LRIP-I contract awarded in January to provide six Poseidon
aircraft. Overall, the Navy plans to purchase 117 Boeing 737-based
P-8A anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to replace its P-3
fleet.
As part of the contract, Boeing will provide aircrew and
maintenance training for the Navy beginning in 2012, in addition to
logistics support, spares, support equipment and tools. The
training system will include a full-motion, full-visual Operational
Flight Trainer that simulates the flight crew stations, and a
Weapons Tactics Trainer for the mission crew stations.
"This contract is the result of the Boeing and Navy team's hard
work and commitment, and moves us a step closer to P-8A full-rate
production," said Chuck Dabundo, Boeing vice president and P-8
program manager. "We've assembled and flown the first LRIP plane
and continue to focus on building P-8A aircraft on cost and on
schedule."
"LRIP-II brings the P-8A program one step closer to delivering
the Poseidon to the fleet," said Capt. Scott Dillon, P-8A deputy
program manager for the Navy.
Boeing completed assembly of the first LRIP-I aircraft at its
Renton, Wash., facility this summer. The aircraft subsequently
completed a successful first flight July 7, 2011, from Renton Field
to Boeing Field, which marked its transition from fabrication and
assembly to mission system installation and checkout in
Seattle.
The Poseidon team is using a first-in-industry in-line
production process that draws on Boeing's Next-Generation 737
production system. All P-8A-unique aircraft modifications are made
in sequence during fabrication and assembly.
The team has built and is testing six flight-test and two
ground-test aircraft under the U.S. Navy System Development and
Demonstration contract awarded to Boeing in 2004. Four flight-test
aircraft -- T1, T2, T3 and T5 -- are conducting testing at Naval
Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The program's static test plane,
S1, completed its test program in January. S2, the fatigue test
plane, will begin testing next year. Initial operational capability
is planned for 2013.