United Kingdom
BOEING COMPLETED the maiden flight of the first of nine RAF P-8A Poseidon MRA1s at its Renton, Washington, facility on July 12. The initial aircraft, ZP801, named Pride of Moray, performed a 90-minute test sortie in the hands of Boeing test pilots and in the presence of UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and RAF personnel, plus Boeing P-8 programme leaders.
Since then the manufacturer has begun integrating mission systems at its Installation and Checkout facility in Tukwila, Washington. Further testing will take place here before delivery to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, scheduled for October. Once at ‘Jax’, ZP801 will undergo additional preparation and UK personnel will continue training before the aircraft flies home to the UK early next year.
Air Commodore Richard Barrow, the senior responsible owner for the UK’s P-8A programme, said: “This is a great milestone in the UK P-8A Poseidon’s journey to the UK, as we are one step closer to its arrival in Scotland. The platform will enhance the UK’s maritime patrol capability with advanced, state-of the- art technology.”
The first cadre of RAF engineers and aircrew have now been trained on the Poseidon, which will be based at RAF Lossie…
