TSAMTO, February 16. Boeing has announced its intention to submit a proposal for the sale of the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft in response to Canada's Request for Information (RFI) on the possibility of supplying long-range maritime patrol aircraft.
The CMMA (Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft) Canadian Multipurpose Aircraft project involves replacing the CP-140 Aurora in service with the Canadian Air Force and expanding the capabilities of anti-submarine defense, as well as information gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Currently, the Canadian Air Force has 14 CP-140 maritime patrol aircraft, which are a version of the P-3 Orion. The first of them were adopted in 1980.
Boeing was the first of the potential bidders to officially announce its intention to participate in the tender for the supply of CMMA aircraft. Earlier, Airbus also advertised the A319 MPA maritime patrol aircraft. In addition, a national development based on Bombardier Global Express may be proposed. It is potentially possible to participate in the competition of Japanese Kawasaki with P-1 and Swedish Saab with Swordfish.
As reported by Jane's Defense Weekly, the signing of the contract is expected no earlier than 2025, and deliveries of CMMA aircraft should begin in the 2030s.
At the moment, Boeing has delivered more than 140 P-8 aircraft to the Armed Forces of the USA, Australia, India, Great Britain and Norway, whose 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.
As reported by TSAMTO, the P-8A was developed by Boeing on the basis of the Boeing 737-800 airliner (with Boeing 737-900 wings). It is designed for patrolling coastal areas and marine waters, anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare, conducting surveillance and reconnaissance on land and at sea, supporting search and rescue and humanitarian operations.
The length of the aircraft is 39.47 m, the wingspan is 37.64 m, the maximum take-off weight is 85,820 kg. The P-8 is equipped with two CFM56-7 engines, AN/APY-10 multi-purpose detection radar developed by Raytheon, which allows obtaining high-resolution images on land and at sea, Block-2 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, 6-8 Mk-54 Mod.0 light anti-submarine torpedoes that can be dropped from a height of up to 6 km.
