Boeing Awarded $3.4 Billion Contract for 17 P-8A Poseidon Aircraft.

The U.S. Navy has awarded Boeing a $3.4 billion contract to begin manufacturing 14 P-8A Poseidon aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force and three additional P-8s for the German Navy. The Boeing P-8 is truly a multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft, excelling at anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface warfare; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and search and rescue.

“We are proud to add Canada to the list of international P-8 partners as well as to Germany’s fleet of maritime patrol aircraft,” said Philip June, vice president and program manager, P-8A program.

“The Poseidon is a proven aircraft, with more than 600,000 flight hours, that will serve Canada and Germany well in today’s challenging security environment and for decades to come.”

In November 2023, Canada announced its decision to acquire the P-8A Poseidon to replace its current fleet of CP-140 Auroras. The first P-8A for Canada is expected to deliver in 2026.

With the P-8 acquisition, Boeing’s economic commitments to Canada have the potential to generate annual benefits of more than 3,000 jobs for Canadian industry and value-chain partners, and at least $358 million to Canada’s gross domestic product over a 10-year period.

Canada’s Team Poseidon includes CAE, GE Aviation Canada, IMP Aerospace & Defence, KF Aerospace, Honeywell Aerospace Canada, Raytheon Canada, and StandardAero. The team builds on 81 Canadian suppliers to the P-8 platform and more than 550 suppliers across all provinces contributing to Boeing’s annual ~CAD $4 billion in economic benefit to Canada, supporting more than 14,000 Canadian jobs.

“Our global customers require proven advanced capabilities to protect their countries — the P-8 provides that defense,” said Vince Logsdon, vice president, International Business Development for Boeing Defense, Space & Security and Global Services.

“Together with our partners, we look forward to delivering this unmatched capability in addition to significant industrial benefits for Canada’s and Germany’s aerospace and defense industries.”

Following the initial procurement of five P-8 aircraft in June 2021, Germany added three additional aircraft to bring the total number of P-8s for the German Navy to eight. The first aircraft will be delivered in 2025, to replace the country’s fleet of P-3 Orions.

In Germany, Boeing has partnered with ESG Elektroniksystem-und Logistik-GmbH and Lufthansa Technik to deliver systems integration, training, support and sustainment work that will bring the highest operational availability to fulfill the German Navy’s missions.

Last year, Boeing and CAE signed teaming agreements to expand multi-mission platform collaboration in Canada, Germany and Norway. These agreements use the complementary capabilities of each company to provide superior management, technical and cost-effective training solutions for the P-8A Poseidon program.

There are 200 P-8s currently in service or on contract across nine countries including the United States, Australia, India, United Kingdom, Norway, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Germany and Canada.

Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries.

The Boeing P-8 Poseidon Aircraft

The Boeing P-8 is truly a multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft, excelling at anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface warfare; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and search and rescue. The P-8 can fly higher (up to 41,000 ft) and get to the fight faster (490 knots).

Shorter transit times reduce the size of the Area of Probability when searching for submarines, surface vessels or search and rescue survivors. P-8 is also designed for low altitude missions and has already proven its abilities supporting humanitarian and search and rescue missions.

A proven system with more than 166 aircraft in service the P-8 has executed more than 600,000 flight-hours around the globe.

The P-8 has two variants: The P-8I, flown by the Indian Navy, and the P-8A Poseidon flown by the U.S. Navy, the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Norwegian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Militaries that have selected the P-8 include the Republic of Korea Navy, German Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force. The P-8’s performance and reliability delivers confidence in an uncertain world — in any condition, anywhere, anytime.

The P-8 combines the most advanced weapon system in the world with the cost advantages of the most operated commercial airliner on the planet. The P-8 shares 86% commonality with the commercial 737NG, providing enormous supply chain economies of scale in production and support.

Boeing’s expertise in commercial fleet management and derivative aircraft sustainment provides customers with greater availability at a lower operational cost. The P-8 is engineered for 25 years/25,000 hours in the harshest maritime flight regimes, including extended operations in icing environments.