propeller-driven P-3 Orion, which began service with the U.S. Navy more than 50 years ago. Boeing is on contract to build and support 53 P-8A aircraft to the U.S. Navy, which plans to purchase 117 of the aircraft. The program changed the way military derivatives of commercial airplanes are produced by Boeing by adopting an in-line production system. Instead of completely modifying the 737 fuselage after it comes out of the factory, P-8 modifications are built into the fuselage at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan., before assembly on the Renton, Wash., production line. That novel approach helped the program deliver under budget, and it has become a model acquisition program for the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as a model for future commercial derivative programs PHOTO: A P-8A Poseidon receives its gray U.S. Navy colors in a paint hangar at Renton, Wash. BOB FERGUSON/BOEING we did more on station with this aircraft than I have seen in my entire career. It’s a great aircraft.” Meanwhile, the P-8 program has achieved every major milestone to date and, according to the U.S. Navy, saved the government $2.1 billion compared with the initial cost projections. James Detwiler, the P-8 program’s Business Development director with Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said the U.S. Navy has shared overwhelmingly positive feedback about the aircraft’s performance. “The crews laud the speed, endurance, handling comfort and reliability of the 737-based platform,” Detwiler said. “In the case of the search for MH 370, the U.S. Navy chose to deploy a second P-8A in the search, due to the fact that the P-8A was achieving an additional two-plus hours of search time over the other airborne platforms—which is critical for long-range search and rescue.” Based on the Next-Generation 737-800, the P-8 replaces the Frontiers November 2014 41
Frontiers November 2014 Issue
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