The first of the UK’s new P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft will land at Kinloss Barracks in Scotland this week.

The ‘Pride of Moray’ will arrive on Tuesday the 4th of February, between 1300-1500 at Kinloss Barracks in Scotland.

The P-8 Poseidon, developed by Boeing, is designed to conduct anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), and shipping interdiction, along with an electronic signals intelligence (ELINT) role. This involves carrying torpedoes, anti-ship missiles and other weapons.

The history of the aircraft dates back to June 2004, when the US Navy announced the selection of the Boeing multimission maritime aircraft, 737 MMA, and awarded a contract to Boeing for the system development and demonstration phase of the programme for the US Navy’s next-generation maritime surveillance aircraft. The aircraft was given the designation P-8A in March 2005.

Infographic of the P-8A Poseidon aircraft.

Poseidon contains up to 7 crew computer consoles in its cabin, has an electro-optical and infrared sensor turret, a maritime surveillance radar and signal intelligence system. Its radar is capable of detection, classification and identification of ships, small vessels and surfaced submarines.

It also has coastal surveillance capability meaning that the Poseidon can be used for search and rescue operations.

The UK has procured 9 of the aircraft.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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17 COMMENTS

  1. A potent piece of kit and one that can work with other ‘Poseidons’ from other nations, if I’m correct. Imagine a concentration of such planes over an identified target, especially a submarine, just what would the odds of survival be?

    • Not high I’d imagine.

      The US has them, we are getting them and so is Norway, so that’s the North Atlantic, North Sea and GIUK gap pretty much covered right there. If hostilities broke out i would not want to be a Russian submariner transiting any of those seas.

      • This begs the question as to what submarine countermeasures can be called on to counter these planes? It also brings into question the vulnerability and viability of submarines in general? At the end of WW2 the survivability of U-Boats was almost nil against Coastal Command advanced tactics. Currently, today’s subs do not need to surface, but even operating at moderate depths could be risky? According to a relative, the World of the submarines is one of the most secret of the three services, and who knows what technologies exist to protect and equally, destroy?

        • You have to remember that even the fabled late war Type 21 U-boats were very noisy underwater, especially by today’s standards. These boats still had to do the point and shoot technique when launching torpedoes from periscope depth. This made them very vulnerable, as they had to get close to the target before firing, thus having a greater chance of being detected.
          Today’s nuke subs and the modern SSKs are the modern equivalent to the sea-going ninja. Stealth is everything, using the sea’s thermoclines that distort sound to hide behind. Covered in anechoic tiles that act like an aircraft’s RAM coating, designed to absorb sound and stop it re-radiating. Then there are the wire guided torpedoes, no longer do you have to point the sub at the target or be in periscope depth. The German Type 212 SSK, is perhaps one of the quietest subs currently made. It has a rafted diesel engine for charging the batteries. But it uses hydrogen fuel cells to power the electric motor. Unlike other air independent systems it does not produce carbon dioxide, which is usually expelled. Sweden’s Gotland class uses a stirling engine fed with diesel and liquid oxygen. However, it produces a number of waste gases and heat that needs to expelled. Admittedly, boats from both classes have been able to sneak up to a USN carrier and do practice shots on it without being detected. The German Type 212s also have a trick up their sleeve, where they can launch the IRIS-T anti-aircraft missile from the torpedo tubes.

  5. Intresting that the aircraft is getting a distinctive name, perhaps a tie in to its naval connections. If this is to be the case with all the p8s, since we’re never going to have a ship named Thunder Child can we have a P8 perhaps. Just to please my inner nerd.

    • The purchase of LRASM for the P8s could go hand in hand with a purchase for our surface vessels. ……..Pity our first aircraft is not able to touch down at it’s correct operating base? Rather embarrassing when you consider how many years we’ve had to get the place ready? Presumably MOD Contractors are behind schedule again……..

  7. Good that one of the largest & shocking gaps in our defence capabilities is finally being closed, at long last. Now we need a few more ASW frigates to respond to sub contacts.

    Will our Poseidons have Harpoons or another ASM, or is that another potential we have to wait for the Treasury/MOD to begrudgingly supply down the line?

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