The Boeing P-8A program has received approval to begin ramping up production shortly before the anti-submarine warfare aircraft enters the last two years of development and flight test.
The Defense Acquisition Board (DAB), which oversees all major acquisitions, verbally approved the P-8A to enter the first year of low rate initial production (LRIP), according to Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). "We expect the official written memo to be signed by [the office of secretary of defense] within three to four weeks," NAVAIR says.
Link to Article
The U.S. Navy expects to acquire 108 P-8As to replace its aging fleet of Orions, with an expected entry into service date of 2013. Boeing predicts a worldwide market for an additional 100 aircraft among 14 countries, including India, which issued a request for proposal for a maritime patrol aircraft in April 2006. As the competition concludes, the company is anticipating an order for eight P-8s to replace India’s older Russian-built aircraft. The P-8I will be similar to the Navy aircraft, but will include the magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) boom, which was removed from the U.S. requirements late last year. Given that the aircraft was initially designed with the MAD boom, it will be simple to accommodate customers who want to include it, according to Boeing.
Link to Source
halls120 wrote:Why did the Navy drop the MAD boom?
tailhooker wrote:halls120 wrote:Why did the Navy drop the MAD boom?
The standing joke was the ASW guys couldn’t find a sub using MAD unless the sub told them their position, was on the surface with flashing strobes and the entire crew waving to them on the deck. Hopefully they have far more sophisticated gear than MAD these days.
A magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) is a piece of equipment that is used to detect minute variations in the Earth's magnetic field. The term refers specifically to magnetometers used by military forces to detect submarines. Such a mass of ferromagnetic material disturbs the magnetic field and can be detected
