TSAMTO, November 22. According to Boeing, the Defense Procurement Agency of the Norwegian Defense Ministry NDMA (Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency) on November 18 received the first (out of five ordered for the Norwegian Air Force) aircraft BPA P-8A "Poseidon".
The first P-8A aircraft, dubbed the Vingtor, was handed over to the NDMA during a ceremony in Seattle, Washington. The use of the aircraft for maritime patrol in the far north of Norway should begin in two years. The four remaining P-8As are in production and will be transferred to NDMA in 2022. Their delivery to the Norwegian Air Force will be completed in 2023.
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. As reported, the full cost of the program may amount to $ 1.75 billion.
The acquisition is being carried out by the Norwegian Defense Ministry as part of the "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 6 obsolete P-3C/N Orion and two DA-20 Jet Falcons from Dassault.
The contract for the supply of five P-8A Poseidon aircraft was signed by the NDMA in March 2017. The agreement also includes the supply of reconnaissance equipment, control systems, weapons to combat submarines and the provision of maintenance services for equipment. The contract value is estimated at 10 billion. norv. kronor ($1.17 billion) in 2017 prices. Deliveries are planned for 2021-2023.
The first P-8A fuselage for the Norwegian Air Force arrived at the Boeing facility in Renton (Washington) on April 12. The aircraft was rolled out of the Boeing paint shop on July 8 in Seattle, and its flight tests began in August 2021.
It is assumed that all five P-8A Poseidon of the Norwegian Air Force will be stationed at the Evenes Air Base (in northern Norway) and will be used for air patrols in the Norwegian, Greenland and Barents Seas.
The Norwegian Air Force Command intends to assign the received aircraft the names: "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. They are currently being worn by the P-3C/N Orion, which will be replaced by the P-8A.
To date, Boeing has delivered 142 P-8 aircraft to the Armed Forces of the USA, Australia, India, Great Britain and Norway. Their flight time exceeds 400 thousand hours. The first deliveries to New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and Germany will take place in 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively.
