See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (2024)

Table of Contents

While the Boeing 737 airframe dates back to the 1960s, the P-8 is a more recent innovation first conceived of in the 2000s with the US Navy giving Boeing the contract to develop a new naval patrol aircraft. The new aircraft to be produced by Boeing would replace the turboprop-powered P-3C Orion, a similar patrol aircraft with an airframe dating back to the 1950s. The build for the P-8 Poseidon would be based on a tried and true aircraft, the Boeing 737. The US Navy already had experience with the 737, using it for VIP, troop, and cargo transport as the C-40, making the Poseidon a logical choice to replace the P-3C. Unlike the C-40, however, the P-8 was designed to be a true warfighter that could not only provide intelligence on and surveil the enemy but attack if required. The list of missions the P-8 is capable of varies from engaging anti-submarine warfare to conducting aerial surveillance missions, making it one of the few converted passenger jet airliners capable of firing military weapons. Despite all the extra equipment on board, the P-8 is 60% identical to the 737 but it's the 40% difference that puts the Poseidon in a class of its own. The Navy received its first Poseidon in 2012 after an eight-year development program to create the flying naval patrol boat. The jet-powered P-8 provided advancements from the P-3C in range, payload carrying capability, speed, and technology, providing the Navy with its newest airborne weapon. Inside the plane, the co*ckpit is the same as a traditional Boeing 737, though with a few optional extras including a fighter-jet style heads-up display. Instead of rows of passenger seats in the back, the P-8 features monitors and screens for the flight crew to engage in surveillance, intelligence gathering, or search and rescue, depending on the mission. Here's a naval crew member using the plane's onboard cameras to monitor Chinese activities in the South China Sea, a geopolitical hotspot where territorial disputes are rife among the region's nations. The South China Sea has become a popular area of operation for the P-8, which the Navy uses to keep an eye on Chinese activity. The Chinese fired a laser at one of the planes in January though no crew were injured. Aiding in its surveillance and anti-submarine warfare mission is 129 sonobuoys that are kept on the aircraft using for tracking ships and submersible vehicles. The harmless devices are dropped from the fuselage and provide sonar data back to the aircraft via radio frequencies in the same way a patrol ship would to find enemy submarines lurking in the depths below. For all the sophisticated surveillance featured on the Poseidon, the aircraft also allows for the use of the most rudimentary form of equipment, the human eye. Two large windows are built into the fuselage on each side of the aircraft to allow for manual searching whether it be surveillance or search and rescue efforts. With the US not currently fighting a war at sea, the aircraft is mostly used for its surveillance and intelligence gathering capabilities, aiding search and rescue operations during recent high-profile disappearances at sea. Two P-8s aided in the search for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft operating as flight MH370 which remains missing to this day... And two P-8s were also deployed to Argentina when one of the nation's submarines, the ARA San Juan, went missing while on patrol. The patrol ships were unable to find the sunken submarine. The advantage of the Poseidon is its armament, with the aircraft capable of carrying torpedoes, cruise missiles, and harpoons capable of hitting maritime and ground-based targets. The weapons are kept in a bomb bay in the aircraft's fuselage and dropped by the pilot when the situation requires. Unlike its counterparts, the P-8 features longer wings with raked winglets capable of carrying wing-mounted torpedos. The P-8 can also fly for around 10 hours uninterrupted, with a maximum range of over 5,000 nautical miles. Should it need to stay out longer, however, the aircraft can also be refueled while in the air. Boeing has built over 100 P-8 Poseidons with the majority of the builds going to the US Navy. Other customers include Australia, Norway, India, the United Kingdom and now, New Zealand and South Korea. Here's the UK receiving its first Poseidon. The Royal Air Force purchased nine P-8s to be based in Scotland and patrol the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Another large customer, the Royal Australian Air Force has orders for 12 Poseidons to aid in its maritime patrol and surveillance efforts. During its tenure for the US Navy and foreign militaries, the P-8 Poseidon has proved to be just as valuable as the ships on the sea, a veritable flying patrol boat. FAQs References

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Thomas Pallini

2020-04-12T12:49:00Z

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (1)

Boeing recently secured a $1.5 billion order from the US Navy for additional P-8 Poseidon aerial patrol aircraft.
First delivered to the Navy in 2012, the P-8 is a multi-role aircraft based on the Boeing 737 passenger jet capable of surveillance and anti-submarine warfare.
Its onboard armament can include torpedoes, harpoons, and cruise missiles allowing it to engage in warfare when required.
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Boeing just landed a massive $1.5 billion order for 18 aircraft from the US Navy for an aerial patrol plane capable of sinking ships, the P-8 Poseidon.

Though it performs and functions more like a naval ship than a commercial jet, Boeing's P-8 Poseidon is actually the military variant of the manufacturer's popular 737-800 Next Generation aircraft.

Instead of flying passengers or cargo, a task routinely performed by the civilian 737, the P-8 has warfighting capabilities through its deployable onboard armament of weapons that can sink ships and submarines, in addition to its advanced onboard surveillance set up to track maritime and ground-based activity.

Currently in use, the P-8 much like its 737 counterpart has seen international success with naval military forces in Australia, Norway, India, the United Kingdom.

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Eight aircraft will go to the US Navy with the remaining aircraft split with the South Korean Navy and New Zealand Royal Air Force receiving six and four, respectively. The two countries purchased Boeing's submarine hunter through the Department of Defense's Foreign Military Sales program.

With the order valued at $1.5 billion, the unit price for each aircraft is approximately $83 million.

Take a look at Boeing's airliner turned advanced warfighter.

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While the Boeing 737 airframe dates back to the 1960s, the P-8 is a more recent innovation first conceived of in the 2000s with the US Navy giving Boeing the contract to develop a new naval patrol aircraft.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (5)

Source: Boeing

The new aircraft to be produced by Boeing would replace the turboprop-powered P-3C Orion, a similar patrol aircraft with an airframe dating back to the 1950s.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (6)

Source: Boeing

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The build for the P-8 Poseidon would be based on a tried and true aircraft, the Boeing 737.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (7)

The US Navy already had experience with the 737, using it for VIP, troop, and cargo transport as the C-40, making the Poseidon a logical choice to replace the P-3C.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (8)

Read More: The US military has a fleet of modified Boeing and Gulfstream VIP private jets — here's what they do

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Unlike the C-40, however, the P-8 was designed to be a true warfighter that could not only provide intelligence on and surveil the enemy but attack if required.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (9)

Source: Boeing

The list of missions the P-8 is capable of varies from engaging anti-submarine warfare to conducting aerial surveillance missions, making it one of the few converted passenger jet airliners capable of firing military weapons.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (10)

Source: US Navy

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Despite all the extra equipment on board, the P-8 is 60% identical to the 737 but it's the 40% difference that puts the Poseidon in a class of its own.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (11)

Source: Aviation International News

The Navy received its first Poseidon in 2012 after an eight-year development program to create the flying naval patrol boat.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (12)

Source: Boeing

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The jet-powered P-8 provided advancements from the P-3C in range, payload carrying capability, speed, and technology, providing the Navy with its newest airborne weapon.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (13)

Source: US Navy

Inside the plane, the co*ckpit is the same as a traditional Boeing 737, though with a few optional extras including a fighter-jet style heads-up display.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (14)

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Instead of rows of passenger seats in the back, the P-8 features monitors and screens for the flight crew to engage in surveillance, intelligence gathering, or search and rescue, depending on the mission.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (15)

Here's a naval crew member using the plane's onboard cameras to monitor Chinese activities in the South China Sea, a geopolitical hotspot where territorial disputes are rife among the region's nations.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (16)

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The South China Sea has become a popular area of operation for the P-8, which the Navy uses to keep an eye on Chinese activity. The Chinese fired a laser at one of the planes in January though no crew were injured.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (17)

Source: Foreign Policy and Navy Times

Aiding in its surveillance and anti-submarine warfare mission is 129 sonobuoys that are kept on the aircraft using for tracking ships and submersible vehicles.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (18)

Source: Boeing

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The harmless devices are dropped from the fuselage and provide sonar data back to the aircraft via radio frequencies in the same way a patrol ship would to find enemy submarines lurking in the depths below.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (19)

For all the sophisticated surveillance featured on the Poseidon, the aircraft also allows for the use of the most rudimentary form of equipment, the human eye.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (20)

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Two large windows are built into the fuselage on each side of the aircraft to allow for manual searching whether it be surveillance or search and rescue efforts.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (21)

With the US not currently fighting a war at sea, the aircraft is mostly used for its surveillance and intelligence gathering capabilities, aiding search and rescue operations during recent high-profile disappearances at sea.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (22)

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Two P-8s aided in the search for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft operating as flight MH370 which remains missing to this day...

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (23)

Source: US Navy

And two P-8s were also deployed to Argentina when one of the nation's submarines, the ARA San Juan, went missing while on patrol. The patrol ships were unable to find the sunken submarine.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (24)

Source: US Navy

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The advantage of the Poseidon is its armament, with the aircraft capable of carrying torpedoes, cruise missiles, and harpoons capable of hitting maritime and ground-based targets.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (25)

Source: US Navy and Defense News

The weapons are kept in a bomb bay in the aircraft's fuselage and dropped by the pilot when the situation requires.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (26)

Source: Defense News

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Unlike its counterparts, the P-8 features longer wings with raked winglets capable of carrying wing-mounted torpedos.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (27)

Source: Aviation International News

The P-8 can also fly for around 10 hours uninterrupted, with a maximum range of over 5,000 nautical miles.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (28)

Source: Aviation International News

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Should it need to stay out longer, however, the aircraft can also be refueled while in the air.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (29)

Source: Boeing

Boeing has built over 100 P-8 Poseidons with the majority of the builds going to the US Navy.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (30)

Source: Boeing

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Other customers include Australia, Norway, India, the United Kingdom and now, New Zealand and South Korea.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (31)

Source: Boeing

Here's the UK receiving its first Poseidon.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (32)

Source: Boeing

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The Royal Air Force purchased nine P-8s to be based in Scotland and patrol the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (33)

Source: Boeing

Another large customer, the Royal Australian Air Force has orders for 12 Poseidons to aid in its maritime patrol and surveillance efforts.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (34)

Source: Royal Australian Air Force

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During its tenure for the US Navy and foreign militaries, the P-8 Poseidon has proved to be just as valuable as the ships on the sea, a veritable flying patrol boat.

See inside the modified Boeing 737 US Navy patrol plane the government just ordered $1.5 billion more of. Take a look at the P-8 Poseidon. (35)

FAQs

How much does the p8 Poseidon cost? ›

The cost breakdown includes $8 billion CAD for the P-8A aircraft and related equipment, plus the other $2.4 billion CAD will be used for simulators, infrastructure and weapons. The aircraft are expected to be delivered between 2026 and 2027, with full operational capability anticipated by 2033.

Read On ›

What are the capabilities of the p8 Poseidon? ›

P-8: A Proven Multi-Mission Maritime Patrol Aircraft

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.

Discover More ›

What is a military 737 called? ›

The Air Force selected the C-40B, a military version of the Boeing 737-700 business jet, to replace the aging fleet of C-137 aircraft for U.S. combatant commanders.

See Details ›

What are the military versions of 737? ›

The Boeing 737 with several military variants

T-43. This was the first military variant in the 737 family. The T-43 is an adapted version of the Boeing 737-200, designed to train military navigators. ...
C-40. This is a military version of the Next Generation Series Boeing 737-700, adapted to take both passengers and cargo.

Nov 19, 2023

Discover More ›

Is the P-8 better than the p-3? ›

Navy PROGRaMS

system provides increased range, payload, and speed compared to the legacy P-3C aircraft. The P-8A Increment 1 system is operationally suitable. The P-8A offers significant improvements in system hardware reliability, maintainability, and availability compared to the legacy P-3C aircraft.

Explore More ›

How long can a P-8 Poseidon fly? ›

In terms of mission effectiveness and reliability, the P-8A represents a leap forward for the Navy's maritime patrol and reconnaissance. The aircraft has a maximum speed of 490 knots, a ceiling of 41,000 feet, and provides a range of more than 1,200 nautical miles with four hours on station.

Discover More ›

Can the P-8 Poseidon destroy submarines? ›

The P-8 Poseidon Will Get Winged Torpedoes To Kill Subs At Long-Range. The days of skimming the waves and chucking out torpedoes are coming to an end. Adding range and smart guidance to existing munitions, via a kit, is the backbone of America's “smart weapon” revolution.

Tell Me More ›

Is the P-8 armed? ›

The P-8A is the Department of Defense's only long-range full-spectrum ASW, cue-to-kill platform, with substantial armed ASuW and networked ISR capabilities.

How does the P8 Poseidon find submarines? ›

The Poseidon is capable of operating on 10-hour missions at ranges up to 1,200 nautical miles (2,222km), with four hours on station. The Poseidon's ability to detect submarines is supported by its active multi-static and passive acoustic sensor system and by an electronic support measure system.

Know More ›

What are the secret military aircrafts? ›

List of stealth aircraft

Type	Country	Class
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II	US	Supersonic
Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel	US	UAV
Lockheed Martin X-35	US	Supersonic
Lockheed Martin X-44 MANTA	US	Jet

46 more rows

Discover More Details ›

What is the plane called when the first lady is on? ›

The C-32 provides safe, comfortable and reliable transportation for U.S. leaders to locations around the world. The primary customers are the vice president, using the distinctive call sign "Air Force Two," the first lady, and members of the Cabinet and Congress.

Show Me More ›

What is the nickname of the 737? ›

Over the course of its long history, the Boeing 737 has acquired more nicknames than any other commercial aircraft. Among them are Baby Boeing, Tin Mouse, Light Twin, Guppy, Bobby, Rudder Rotor, as well as a few less flattering ones, such as Fat Freddy and Dung Beetle.