Boeing has been awarded a $23.4m (£19m) contract by the UK for logistics support related to the introduction to service of the P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
According to a contract notice posted earlier:
“The Boeing Co., Seattle, Washington, is being awarded a $23,375,361 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N00019-19-F-4058) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-16-G-0001).
This order procures contractor logistics support for the United Kingdom’s (UK’s) P-8A program and aircraft. Contractor logistics support includes initial acceptance and breakdown of four aircraft and provision of training with an eight-month detachment to the UK to establish initial operational capability as well as subsequent full operational capability, scheduled aircraft maintenance, support equipment maintenance, engineering reach back and technical assistance.
Work will be performed in Lossiemouth, Scotland (59%); Seattle, Washington (21%); and Jacksonville, Florida (20%), and is expected to be completed in December 2020. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $23,375,361 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.”
Recently, images showed the first British P-8 Poseidon painted and on the flight line undergoing pre-flight preparations for its first flight.
The Poseidon is based on the Boeing 737-800NG aircraft, the supply chain for which is already supported by UK industry, providing several hundred direct UK jobs. UK manufacturers also provide specialist sub-systems for the P-8A, for example Marshalls (auxiliary fuel tanks), Martin Baker (crew seats), GE (Weapon Pylons) and GKN Aerospace (windshields).
In January, Boeing was awarded an almost $2.5 billion contract to produce 19 P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for the US Navy, Norway and the United Kingdom. Ten of the aircraft were for the US Navy, four for the UK and five for Norway.
The UK intends to procure 9 of the aircraft in total and had already ordered five. This purchase brought the total UK order of P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft up to 9.
Bit of an odd question here but as the UK supplies the windshields I’m curious as to how often they need replacing on most aircraft?
On cars it’s pretty common but I’d suspect there’s less stuff hitting them in the air but on the other hand that stuff is going a lot faster so that could be quite a lot of work. I’d also imagine they’re a lot harder to replace as the windscreen falling out mid flight would be a tad unsettling.
Older aircraft had the windows clamped and then screwed to the airframe. Today most modern aircraft bond the window to the airframe, much like a cars window. A lot of passenger aircraft use dual plane windows much like your double glazing in a house. This is to prevent condensation forming due to the temperature inversion between the outer and inner of the airframe.
The Merlin for example had two types of cockpit window, a standard and an armoured. When the RAF were using them in Iraq during the summer months, the standard windows would constantly crack due to the temperature delta between night and day. This is because the window being bonded to the airframe cannot react to the very small stretching that the airfame does as it reacts to temperature changes. The answer was to fit the 1″ thick armoured windows, as these were more resilient (even though they wouldn’t stretch).
Windows fitted to airliners do have a finite life, this is due to UV turning the plastic opaque over time. But more importantly from scratches, the scratches cause scintillation especially when flying towards the sun. The scratches are caused by dust and debris (insects) in the air. A good example is the normal plume of sand blown up from the Sahara every year. The main plume can be tracked, but the smaller lighter dust stays up for years.
Thanks for the informative reply DaveyB :-).