Harpoon missile-loaded Navy aircraft P8-I prepares for final test flight

India's US-made strategic multi-mission maritime aircraft P8-I is gearing for its final launch flight as the second of the eight ordered flying machines rolled inside the Boeing production line here.

The P8-I will add to the strategic reach of the Indian Navy, sharpening its long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities to effectively dominate its 7,500-kilometre coastline.

The P8-I is named on the pattern of the US Navy's similar version aircraft P8-A (Poseidon). The P8-I aircraft, to be equipped with the deadly Harpoon missiles, has been a dependable asset for the US Navy since the last few years and India is the first international customer of this variety of US defence product.

The second P8-I, with the Indian flag and the Arakonam based INS Rajali's Albatross insignia on its cockpit, has joined the production-line at the US aviation giant's mission systems installation and checkout facility here.

While the first P8-I has already taken its test flight earlier this year, the second has also undergone its initial flight at the Boeing's Renton field.

At present, two P8-A Posiedon of the US Navy stand ahead of the Indian jet in the production-line. The second Indian aircraft will soon be ready for weapon's and systems checking and then it will begin its final test flights.

The first batch of three P8-I aircraft is scheduled to be delivered to India by next year and the Navy is expected to base them at its base in Arakonam near Chennai.

'We are on track and will deliver the first aircraft to India by May next year,' Leland Wight, P-8I programme manager (Boeing Defence, Space and Security) said inside the cradle factory of the P8 Posiedon aircraft.

India had awarded the contract for manufacturing eight such aircrafts to the US aviation giant in 2009 for a sum of USD 2.1 billion.

The aircraft has been ordered by the Indian Navy to boost its maritime reconnaissance in the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean which witnesses 60 per cent of shipping traffic.

The P-8I is being built on the platform of the Boeing's 737-800 commercial airplane with upgraded avionics.

The Indian flying military machine will be armed with torpedoes (to destroy enemy submarines), depth bombs and the deadly harpoon missiles along with a host of snoop gathering gadgets like radars.

The aircraft also boasts of advanced sensors and weapon control technologies and is being prepared by a Boeing-led industry team that supplies important parts for the aircraft which can fly for long-haul military and search operations.

On-board the aircraft are various indigenous systems and gadgets that gather intelligence and information and have been manufactured by firms like the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Tata and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

These gadgets equip the aircraft with speech secrecy, mobile satellite system and data link facilities.

The aircraft will have a nine-member crew and can be expanded by few more personnel in case of an special requirement.

The Navy jet can also drop sonobuoys and floating sonar detectors in order to gather specific snoop information on and under the sea.

Boeing Delivers 2nd Production P-8A Poseidon Aircraft to US Navy

Boeing on July 17 delivered the second production P-8A Poseidon aircraft to the U.S. Navy. The P-8A is one of 13 low rate initial production (LRIP) maritime patrol aircraft that Boeing is building for the Navy as part of two contracts awarded in 2011.

Navy pilots flew the P-8A from Seattle to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., where the first LRIP P-8A is being used for aircrew training.

"We're proud to be able to meet our commitment and deliver another Poseidon to the fleet," said Chuck Dabundo, Boeing vice president and P-8 program manager. "Navy crews have had a couple of months of training with the first plane, and their feedback has been positive."

Three P-8As currently are undergoing mission systems installation and checkout in Seattle, and three are in final assembly in Renton, Wash. In order to efficiently design and build P-8A aircraft for the Navy and P-8I aircraft for India, the Boeing-led team is using a first-in-industry, in-line production process that draws on the company's Next-Generation 737 production system. All aircraft modifications are made in sequence during fabrication and assembly.

Overall, the Navy plans to purchase 117 of the 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 two LRIP contracts, Boeing is providing aircrew and maintenance training for the Navy, in addition to logistics support, spares, support equipment and tools. Separate from the LRIP contracts, Boeing was awarded a System Development and Demonstration contract in 2004 to build and test six flight-test and two ground-test P-8A aircraft. The flight test aircraft have completed more than 600 sorties and 2,800 flight hours, mainly at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.

Indian Navy Boeing P-8I maritime patrol aircraft Begins Flight Test Program

Boeing's first P-8I aircraft for the Indian Navy began its official flight test program July 7, taking off from Boeing Field in Seattle at 9:15 a.m. and landing three hours and 49 minutes later after demonstrating flying qualities and handling characteristics. The flight went as planned with all test objectives met.

The P-8I is one of eight long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft Boeing is building for India as part of a contract awarded in January 2009. During the coming months, Boeing test pilots will put the P-8I, a Next-Generation 737-800 derivative, through its paces over a U.S. Navy test range west of Neah Bay, Wash., and a joint U.S./Canadian test range in the Strait of Georgia.

                         

Boeing's first P-8I aircraft for the Indian Navy began its official flight test program July 7, taking off from Boeing Field in Seattle at 9:15 a.m. and landing three hours and 49 minutes later after demonstrating flying qualities and handling characteristics. The flight went as planned with all test objectives met.

"Today's flight is another on-time milestone for the program," said Leland Wight, Boeing P-8I program manager. "We'll start out testing the P-8I's mission system, which includes its sensors and communication systems. The team then will transition to 'stores' tests during which the P-8I will carry inert weapon shapes under its wings to demonstrate that the aircraft is capable of carrying all the weapons the Indian Navy will use during regular missions."

The stores the P-8I will carry will have the identical shape and size of real weapons, including the Harpoon anti-ship missile, depth bombs and torpedoes.

                         

Boeing's first P-8I aircraft for the Indian Navy began its official flight test program July 7, taking off from Boeing Field in Seattle at 9:15 a.m. and landing three hours and 49 minutes later after demonstrating flying qualities and handling characteristics. The flight went as planned with all test objectives met.

                       

"This is an important milestone for the program and sets the stage for operational testing and weapons certification as we move closer to P-8I aircraft joining the Indian Navy," said Rear Adm. DM Sudan, assistant chief of Naval Staff (Air), Indian Navy.

P-8I flight and weapons testing follows on the heels of similar testing for the U.S. Navy's P-8A Poseidon. P-8I is a variant of the Poseidon.

In order to efficiently design and build the P-8I and the P-8A, the Boeing-led team is using a first-in-industry, in-line production process that draws on the company's Next-Generation 737 production system. Assembly is complete on the second P-8I aircraft and it will make its first flight in the coming weeks.

               

VP-30/P-8A Poseidon: Let the training begin

The P-8A Poseidon assigned to VP-30 cut short its training mission on June 8 when the flight management control system malfunctioned and the crew was ordered to return to base.

The P-8A Poseidon assigned to VP-30 cut short its training mission on June 8 when the flight management control system malfunctioned and the crew was ordered to return to base.

“Most everything is running smoothly as the transition from P-3C Orion to P-8A Poseidon gathers momentum,” said VP-30 Commanding Officer Capt. Mark Stevens in a June 8 interview.

“In our sole P-8, we’re averaging 150 flight hours per month, which is high – but necessary – to stay on track with our ‘train-the-trainer’ plan. The goal is to have our core cadre of qualified P-8 instructors ready to welcome VP-16 in mid-July.

He explained, “After the ‘War Eagles’ turn in their P-3s, the pilots, NFOs and aircrew will check in at the P-8A Integrated Training Center (ITC) and start their CAT II transition syllabus, which takes about five months.”

“The squadron’s maintainers will check in at CNATTU Jax (Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit) for organizational-level maintenance classes taught by Boeing instructors, after which they’ll check in at VP-30 and embed themselves in our maintenance department. Eventually they get their PQS (Personnel Qualification Standards) booklets signed off for the P-8A.”

(PQS is a compilation of the minimum knowledge and skills that an individual must demonstrate in order to qualify to stand watches or perform other specific routine duties necessary for the safety, security or proper operation of a ship, aircraft or support system.)

Stevens added, “By January, they’ll return to Hangar 511 and stand up their maintenance department and complete a series of drills in preparation for their ‘safe for flight’ inspection.”

He concluded, “By the end of January, the War Eagles will stand alone and begin their 12-month IDRC (Inter-Deployment Readiness Cycle) in preparation for the first deployment of a P-8 squadron.”

As the fleet replacement squadron for the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force (MPRF), VP-30 is concurrently training aircrew and maintainers for both P-3C Orion and P-8A Poseidon.

“It’s very challenging for our roster of instructors –but training people to safely operate the retiring P-3 is no less important than the transition to P-8.” 

“Our plan is to transition two squadrons each year.”

The squadron’s second P-8A from the Boeing production line in Seattle, Wash., will be accepted by VP-30 in July. An additional P-8A will arrive at NAS Jacksonville each succeding month, so the squadron will be operating six Poseidon aircraft by the end of 2012.