The fourth of nine Poseidon MRA1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft has completed test flights in the United States.
Good morning everyone!
To start the week off we thought we'd share a few shots of ZP804 returning from a test flight at Boeing Field in Seattle, USA.Thanks to David Arce for these.
Keep an eye on this account to find out what it's called. 😉#MPAMonday #TeamLossie pic.twitter.com/qFj4vUWkLx
— RAF Lossiemouth (@RAFLossiemouth) November 2, 2020
Nine Poseidon MRA1 aircraft have been ordered, the first of which landed on British soil for the first time in February 2020.
“Since then, crews from CXX Squadron have been securing the seas over and around the United Kingdom on operational missions. 54 Squadron have also been training new pilots and weapons systems operators on the platform, as 400 additional military personnel will be joining Team Lossie in Moray to fly and operate the nine aircraft.
Poseidon is a hugely capable submarine hunter, able to locate, identify, and track potentially hostile submarines as they operate close to our waters. Its powerful radar is also able to detect and track surface vessels above the waves. It boasts a comprehensive communications suite which means the intelligence it gathers can be passed to commanders whether they are in the air, on a ship, on the ground, or back at RAF Lossiemouth.”
The aircraft will arrive in the UK later this year.
I have posted this before but still valid and could help reduce cost and increase capability for, Tanking, AEW, Maritime Patrol etc.. “Here’s an idea. Boeing has about 400 +/-, 737 Max planes in storage. Even if these planes get permission to carry passengers, and this is not certain. It is highly likely that passengers would have no confidence 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 or Surveillance. A 737 MAX cost $100 to $135 million new. Stacked planes would… Read more »
Why would you want an unsafe plane flying in the RAF? I’d rather buy unwanted airliners with plenty of life left than 737 MAX? Won’t happen anyway
julian, I refer you to the last 2 paragraphs.
Julian. Further, the option only works because the airlines would be desparate to get rid of these liabilities, while keeping the aircraft that thrit customers have confidence in. The whole point is that the 737 MAX would be unrepeatably cheap.
How do you convert a civil airliner to be a bomb truck , or surveillance aircraft that only has to be ‘basic standards’??
Wing pylons, data transfer to the weapons via a system to take targeting data from other networked platforms. Flight tests, sensor and avionics integration etc etc. That doesnt seem very basic?
What a misleading image at the top of this article. It is of ‘01 Pride of Moray’ flying with a Typhoon (It is unlikely for a Typhoon to be at the Boeing Field). Why not use an image from the Twitter post?
as i understand it the p8 doesn’t have a magnetic anomaly detector – does that mean it has to drop sonar buoys to detect subs? seems quite wasteful not to mention littering the ocean with crap – or does it have some other means of detecting subs?
I thought the whole point of these WAS to hunt subs?
As I understand it, the USN deleted the MAD requirement, partly to save weight but also because at the altitudes likely to be flown, MAD detection isn’t very effective. They are now looking at a MAD drone, launched from the sonar buoy launcher, that can operate at very low level and relay back to the aircraft.
Flying that low the plane is also very, very vulnerable to MANPADs.
The airframe stress is terrible and the fuel consumption sucks.
MAD was, I suspect, always a bit of cover for thermal tracks and a few other technologies. Fundamentally earths magnetic field naturally changes quite a lot so even a big metal mass would have to be nearby to cause a perturbation you could measure and distinguish from background effects.
The P-8 can be fitted with a MAD but the US and Britain have chosen not to include it. I think one country that bought the P-8 has included it though if I remember correctly.
Yes that is India,the US and other users think that its Acoustic Sensors are more Capable for the Job.
Bring back Autolycus!