TSAMTO, August 11. The Defense Procurement Agency of the Norwegian Ministry of Defense (DMA) on its Facebook page published a message about the start of flight tests of the first of five P-8A Poseidon BPA aircraft ordered for the Norwegian Air Force.
As confirmed by the Boeing company, the plane took off on August 9 at 10: 03 Pacific time at the Renton enterprise and landed at the Seattle enterprise in 2 hours and 24 minutes. As stated, the purpose of the flight was to test engines, technical systems and check flight characteristics before transferring the aircraft to the enterprise, where military equipment will be installed on board.
As reported by TSAMTO, on December 20, 2016, the US State Department approved the potential supply of 5 P-8A Poseidon base patrol aircraft to Norway as part of the Foreign Military Sales program, as well as related equipment and services. The total cost of delivery may amount to $ 1.75 billion.
The acquisition is carried out by the Norwegian Ministry of Defense within the framework of "Project 2047", the purpose of which is to expand the capabilities of the Norwegian Armed Forces to conduct reconnaissance at sea, as well as to combat enemy submarines. The P-8A will replace the outdated P-3C/N Orion and Dassault's DA-20 Jet Falcon.
The Norwegian Agency DMA signed a contract for the supply of five P-8A Poseidon aircraft in March 2017. The agreement also includes the supply of reconnaissance equipment, control systems, weapons for combating submarines and the provision of equipment maintenance services. The contract value is estimated at 10 billion rubles. norv. kroons ($1.17 billion) in 2017 prices. Deliveries are planned for 2021-2023.
The first fuselage of the P-8A for the Norwegian Air Force arrived at the Boeing plant in Renton (Washington) on April 12 of this year, and on July 8, the aircraft was pumped out of the Boeing paint shop in Seattle.
DMA plans to receive the first aircraft at the end of 2021, and deliveries of the P-8A to Norway will begin in the first quarter of 2022.
It is assumed that all five P-8A "Poseidon" of the Norwegian Air Force will be deployed at the Evenes Air Base in Northern Norway and will be used for patrolling over the waters of the Norwegian, Greenland and Barents Seas.
Recently, the Norwegian Air Force Command revealed the names that it intends to assign to the ordered aircraft: "Vingtor "(Vingtor)," Viking "(Viking)," Ulabrand "(Ulabrand)," Hugin "(Hugin) and" Munin " (Munin). The designations are taken from the names of the characters of Scandinavian mythology. For the first time, the names "Wingtor", "Viking" and "Ulabrand" were used for patrol aircraft PBY-5 "Catalina" in 1942. Currently, they are worn by P-3C/N "Orion", which will be replaced by P-8A.
To date, Boeing has delivered 136 P-8 aircraft to the US Navy, the Australian Air Force, the Indian Navy and the British Air Force. Norway is one of the eight countries that have chosen the P-8A as a new maritime patrol aircraft, along with the United States, India, Australia, Great Britain, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and Germany.
