UK decides against P-8A(Or not)

In a semi related note, Spirit Aerosystems, who make the 737 fuselage are building the first P-8 fuselage for the RAAF.

Booooooo one does not agree. So we are struggling to pay for things here in the UK police cuts military cuts yet the UK gov wants to spend the money on he boeings. Give us the damn P-1 Kawasaki

I wonder if we got a better deal since its what the Americans wanted us to have?

Anyone know when the p8s will be in service by?

Key among the capability hikes revealed ahead of the SRSR's unveiling later Monday is a program to buy nine Boeing P-8 maritime patrol aircraft in a foreign military sales deal with the US. This was quoted from the following article.www.defensenews.com... now
Fmswww.dsca.mil...
As you can see there is a possibility of having a sweeter deal

a reply to: blackbird93

They haven't said yet that I've seen. Probably at least 2017 or into 2018. The RAAF gets their first one in 2017.

a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

The P-8 fits better. UK crews have been training and flying missions with USN P-8s.

a reply to: blackbird93

I suspect that the initial report of them rejecting the P-8s was to push Boeing into a better deal.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Possibly a direct swap for the r1 sentinal that goes out of service in about 2018 then. In regards to price wise BAE produce the mission display and computing system. That in itself should lower the cost

www.baesystems.com...

a reply to: blackbird93

Sentinel is pushed out to 2020 now I think

Could the US base some of their P-8's in UK to build up infrastructure? Seedcorn has meant we have been sharing knowledge and learning on ASW with USN P-8 and RCAF, RNZAF and RAAF P-3s so we have instructors and crews ready.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
The UK MoD has apparently shelved plans to buy up to 9 P-8A aircraft from Boeing citing cost as a factor. The deal was expected to be announced in the defense review paper due this month.

This could be seen as a boost for Kawasaki, who showed their P-1 aircraft in the UK this summer as a possible alternative.

www.thesundaytimes.co.uk...

I Guess the pressumed Russian Sub spooted in the waters of Scotland today will make sure this deal comes through.

originally posted by: Forensick
Would need mods as our sonor buoys and torpedo's and missiles are different, of course could just buy US weapons.

Not sure What you mean spending twice as much to get it back, Nimrod would never have gotten into service as it would never get an airworthiness certificate because the design was wrong and no amount of adding control services to the horizontal stabilisers would change that.

Boeing was providing the smarts inside Nimrod to a UK spec and AFAIK that's what is in P-8 to some extent so perhaps some royalties will come back?

Apparently off the shelf, probably only mod the radio and crypto, our torpedos are not compatible without significant mods which we want to avoid to stop adding complexity into our purchases!

More torpedos for the Wildcats protecting the Carriers!

What a pleasant surprise, 138 F-35B and 9 x P-8, 2 beautiful carriers. Finally some sense.

a reply to: spy66

It was going through no matter what. They have no patrol aircraft capable of sub hunting since they retired the Nimrod. Whether a sub was seen or not there's no choice in the matter.

a reply to: Forensick

The mods are done at build. The aircraft are built to the purchase nation specifications. The cost of the mods is built in to the cost of the airframe.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: spy66

They have no patrol aircraft capable of sub hunting since they retired the Nimrod. Whether a sub was seen or not there's no choice in the matter.

I know. That is also the argument they used in the News when this was breaking this morning. They had to scrap their last Aircraft for sub hunting do to lack of founding to keep it flying.

a reply to: spy66

The Nimrod required major upgrades to keep flying. They had problems with in flight refueling that led to the loss of an aircraft and crew over Afghanistan. It would have cost as much to upgrade them as it would to buy a new platform.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: spy66

The Nimrod required major upgrades to keep flying. They had problems with in flight refueling that led to the loss of an aircraft and crew over Afghanistan. It would have cost as much to upgrade them as it would to buy a new platform.

Didn't they also start to find there was so much variation between individual aircraft they couldn't have a single upgrade plan but had to handle each airframe almost as a separate type?

There's more of a chance for the UK to be involved in the build process. More than the p1 Kawasaki. So its better for the economy and jobs market.

a reply to: Donkey09

I think so. I remember hearing something like that.

originally posted by: blackbird93
a reply to: Zaphod58

Possibly a direct swap for the r1 sentinal that goes out of service in about 2018 then. In regards to price wise BAE produce the mission display and computing system. That in itself should lower the cost

The two aircraft aren't comparable and do different jobs - Sentinel was supposed to be a short term stop gap itself, yet they seem to want to keep them handy.