The 5th British P-8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft has rolled out of final assembly and we can reveal that the aircraft is named ‘Fulmar’ after a type of seabird.
The Uk is procuring 9 of the aircraft in total.
The 5th @BoeingDefense P-8 for the @RoyalAirForce rolled out of final assembly. ZP805 Name: Fulmar pic.twitter.com/FoGSGEjj6O
— Woodys Aeroimages (@AeroimagesChris) September 8, 2020
This comes not long after news that the P-8 Poseidon aircraft three and four are soon to be delivered to the UK, bringing the fleet up to 4 aircraft.
HMS Fulmar was the name of Lossiemouth when it was a naval air station. So probably a reference to that.
— Bing Chandler (@SkippyBing) September 8, 2020
Our next two @P8A_PoseidonRAF are almost ready to join their two siblings in the UK to grow @CXX_Squadron.#NextGenRAF #SecuringTheSeas #TeamLossie pic.twitter.com/heaywX7xd4
— Royal Air Force (@RoyalAirForce) August 24, 2020
The official Twitter account of the P-8 force said:
“Very excited to see our next 2 Poseidon in the final stages of build. Thanks Boeing, keep up the great work.”
The British Poseidon MRA Mk1 fleet currently comprises of two aircraft with seven more to be delivered. According to the Royal Air Force, Poseidon will now be patrolling the seas, “hunting potentially hostile submarines and helping to defend our nuclear deterrent”.
In August, a Royal Air Force P-8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft completed its first operational mission shadowing a Russian warship in the North Sea near to UK waters.
As noted in Bing Chandler’s tweet, it’s more likely the name is derived from the former name of Lossiemouth, though there’s also probably a nod to the Fairey Fulmar.
What are the others called then. The second is ‘City of Elgin’ I see from past info here but can’t find names for the other 3 ahead of this one.
801 Pride of Moray
803 Terence Bulloch DSO* DFC* RAF’
804 not yet released
I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised with the delivery rate of these aircraft. I was expected them to take years!
Me to Joe. I swear I read here they were being dragged out. Must’ve got the wrong end of the stick.
I know we would always like more, but are the nine aircraft sufficient enough to fill the capability gap?
From what I read here from those who know more than me, 9 is the bare minimum.
Nimrod was 21, then 18, then 16, then 12, then 9.
Just pleased that a “Banana Republic” like the UK has these quality assets few can afford.
9 is not many, but the availability rate will be high. 9 P8’s will probably exceed the output of 12-14 Nimrods.
How is that so Robert?
Because the aircraft is brand new, and it’s a modern airline design. Serviceability rates should be around 95% availability, like the Voyager fleet is achieving. Nimrod was down at 60% or less like Tristar was. So basically, more serviceable aircraft are available more of the time. ?
Cheers mate.
Yes but we are striving very hard to be the Leader of the Banana Republic World which if successful no doubt will be trumpeted from the rafters of No10 and hopefully a new Bank Holiday to allow us to celebrate like its 1894.
I wasnt being serious Spy. Just sarcasm leftover from yesterday when I was defending the UK against the comments of certain contributors.
Understanding the context, it made me chuckle, so not posted in vain 😉
Do you not mean the Orwellian 1984, where saying X means Y? The Con trumpet call of ‘Strong on defence.’ Springs to mind.
With Boeing on its uppers, would now not be a good time to place orders for further MPA airframes at least?
“Yes, we have no bananas, we have no bananas, today”, or tanks, or APC’s or fully equipped infantry or sufficient artillery, or missiles. But we have an insufficient number of P-8s. LOL!
That’s right, we’re short of all of those. Hope you’ve got your tissues out, as you clearly seem to have been getting off on it these last few years with your arrogant belittling posts. The “LOL” at the end says a lot.
Never mind eh?
Bluntly i may be a bit slow but have no idea what your post means or is relevant
You should keep it simple and not try to be too clever
They may have been accelerated as the threat is perceived to have grown?
As they are in serial production we may have just been moved up the queue?
Could also be to do with lack of demand for civilian planes so Boeing are moving people across from Civil to Military builds so the build rate is faster?
Anyway it is a rare piece of good news as is the general QEC story.
Judging the noises from the DS and CDS, ASW / MPA is a growth industry again, given their comments on interference of submarine cables and their CNI importance.
Hope we see further improvements in this area.
At least projects like Starlink and OneWeb will give us alternatives to these cables.
“They may have been accelerated as the threat is perceived to have grown?”
And no doubt will continue to do so!
“Today’s PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy) is oriented toward fighting the US in the East and South China seas,” Bryan Clark, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told Janes on 2 September, shortly after the report was released. “The trajectory of the PLA, however, is toward a force that could challenge the US overseas.”
https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/us-report-highlights-chinese-focus-on-near-seas-as-it-eyes-greater-overseas-projection
Clearly we are taking the threat more seriously?
“US Air Force (USAF) B-52H bombers and UK Royal Air Force (RAF) Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft have flown over Ukrainian territory for the first time as part of an enhanced programme of deterrence flights in Eastern Europe.”
https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/us-b-52s-and-uk-typhoons-patrol-ukrainian-skies
It’s maybe more likely that we will fight them in their near seas as part of a US led coalition.
So I have to ask what are the names of the first 4 P8s? Frigate, Gannet, Petrel and Auk perhaps?
Oh dear proof that you didn’t read this from the top lol. 100 lines.
Fairey Fulmar. The eight gun naval answer to the Hurricane. Well not quite, but it was flown by an historically brave group of FAA pilots at a crucial period of WW2.
Aye I remember when the Fleet Air Arm, HMS Fulmar was stationed at Lossie when I was a kid,they flew Scimitars, Fairy Gannet, and Buccaneers, in later years I served with the Royal Air Force at Kinloss where we had a very capable aircraft the Nimrod, absolute disgrace scrapping this aircraft and leaving us without maritime cover for ten years, bloody Tory government.
Posted this before but still valid. “Here’s an idea. Boeing has about 400 +/-, 737 Max planes in storage. The probability is these planes may never get permission to carry passengers. That’s if any passengers would trust flying in them.
Why not buy a couple of dozen at bargain basement prices and convert them to missile trucks for F-35’s or basic Patrol/Strike/Ground Support aircraft.”
How do you type certify something that can’t be certified?
Crown Immunity has gone and post Haddon Cave “it will be alright on the night” has, thankfully, be consigned to the dustbin of history.
see below
Because they will crash, killing all on board?
Andy. BBC 27Aug2020. ” EU aviation regulators have scheduled flight tests for Boeing’s troubled 737 Max plane. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said the tests would take place in Vancouver, Canada in the week beginning 7 September. The announcement comes two months after US regulators began similar test flights for the jet.” The software problem can be fixed. But it will be much more difficult to gain the confidence of the public. In a way your post shows this reluctance to trust the plane. Commercial Airlines cannot risk investing billions in a plane that the public has no… Read more »
This shows that we CAN rebuild a capacity very quickly.
So when the stroppy jocks get their way and get independence where will the mod spend the next £200 million to House whatever p8s the rest of the uk get to keep?
Apparently due for delivery to Lossiemouth tomorrow. Having said that the eastern seaboard of the US is somewhat snowy/stormy atm.