Boeing said Tuesday that it delivered the first production P-8A anti-submarine Poseidon aircraft to the U.S. Navy in Seattle on Sunday.
Based on the Renton-built 737 airframe, the P-8A has extensive intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensors and is armed with bombs, torpedoes, depth charges and air-to-surface missiles.
The P-8A is the first of an initial 13 of the jets that Boeing will deliver as part of a "low-rate initial production" contract awarded in 2011.
Following delivery in Seattle, Navy pilots flew the jet to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., where it will be used for aircrew training.
Before building this first production P-8, Boeing had built six flight-test and two ground-test aircraft. The flight-test jets are based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and have completed more than 1,500 flight hours.
The Navy plans to eventually purchase 117 of the aircraft, with the first squadron scheduled to be ready to deploy in 2013.
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