P-8A Poseidon arrives in Australia
The first P-8A Poseidon aircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has arrived in the country from Boeing’s Seattle, Washington, facility. The aircraft was welcomed by the air force at a ceremony on 16 November.
This is the first of fifteen P-8A aircraft the government committed to acquiring in the 2016 Defence White Paper. Twelve are already contracted to be delivered by March 2020.
The aircraft will provide maritime surveillance and anti-submarine capabilities around the nation’s coastline and maritime approaches.
It will operate alongside up to seven MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft (still to be procured) to provide an advanced maritime surveillance capability to replace the ageing AP-3C Orion platform.
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