P-8A/P-8I ASW/MPA Aircraft Thread
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
?
3 Harpoon !
Maybe inert in red ?
Now with the last order for 9 USN have 62 in order on 117 planned, 28 in service.
Unusual size for combat Sqns 5 in general and 8 for Sqns designated deployed but this does not mean that they are abroad.
Thinking remains about max 100 P-3C, 115 in 05/2014. A big MPA fleet !
Last edited:
The aircraft in question was photographed during a test flight at Boeing Field in Seattle by a well known aviation photographer named Josh Kaiser, as shown in the photos. it is a test flight of an aircraft that will be delivered to India..
It is some kind of antenna farm and housing. I suppose it could be some kind of SIGINT/ELINT Pod, or some kind of Comm Pod (like BACN for example), but I do not know.
It will be interesting to see if this is a new Indian requirement or not.
Here's another pic:
Another interesting possibility for the new pod/module shown above would be if the US is developing the JSTAR replacement sensors and mechanisms and using this as a test bed for it.
Boeing has already proposed a specially configured, new build 737 for this purpose, and since the P-8 is already a MILSPEC new build 737, it would make sense to test it on a P-8.
And, since the P-8 development is being shared with the Indian aircraft, Boeing could conceivably test it on a pre-delivery Indian P-8I Neptune.
We shall see.
Boeing has already proposed a specially configured, new build 737 for this purpose, and since the P-8 is already a MILSPEC new build 737, it would make sense to test it on a P-8.
And, since the P-8 development is being shared with the Indian aircraft, Boeing could conceivably test it on a pre-delivery Indian P-8I Neptune.
We shall see.
Jeff, that thought raised a question in my mind.
It's about the current state / progress of the MP-RTIP. If by any chance you happen to know about it.
The Muli-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program is about 15 years old I think and was ment to produce a new sensor for the (no cancled) future E-10 J-STARS. It was also supposed to be fitted, in a smaller version, to the NATO AGS Global Hawk Block 40 aircraft. Old articles say the first such UAV was to roll off the production line in 2011. There have been, butgetary I think, problems to the whole AGS initiative as well, and I'm also not aware of it's current status.
Do you believe the above could be a test of an MP-RTIP prototype ment to be fitted to a Global Hawk? With all those little antennas underneath especially, the pod doesn't really look like it might hold an AESA ground surveillance radar. I would assume the data would be streamed off the GH via some fuselage mounted antenna.
All that being said, what is the current status of the MP-RTIP?
And, finally, here a link I find to be of interest:
To continue with the above, I just came across an interesting article on flightglobal regarding the JSTARS replacement program. The focus on the article is on the possible platform providers, as opposed to the (sensor) prime contractors.
Interesting info never the less. The proposed Boeing, I guess, would be the biggest platform out of all the contenders.
Since the article is a bit long, I only put the intro here. And the artist impressions of the three contenders (Boeing, L-M Bombardier, Northrop Gulfstream)
Interesting info never the less. The proposed Boeing, I guess, would be the biggest platform out of all the contenders.
Since the article is a bit long, I only put the intro here. And the artist impressions of the three contenders (Boeing, L-M Bombardier, Northrop Gulfstream)
Well, the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) program is continuing and actually has a designation now. It is AN/ZPY-2.
The program continues with system development, but has also moved beyond pure demonstration to the initial deployment phase.
As you know, MR-RTIP uses AESA technology coupled with commercial off-the-shelf hardware to develop several important capabilities. This includes a long range, very high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capability, a ground moving target indicator (GMTI) capability, and an air target tracking capability.
The radar is meant to be modular and scalable. That's how it will be able to be applied to multiple airborne platforms.
MP-RTIP, as it matures really promises improved combat identification, improved target tracking particularly in time critical situations, and a new air-to-air capability particularly related to cruise missile defense.
Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are teaming together to develop the radar at the U.S. Air Force Electronic Systems Center.
In fact, in June of this year, Northrup Grumman unveiled the first NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) aircraft.
This is a modified Global Hawk aircraft fitted for the Ground surveillance role. PArt of its equipment includes the MR-RTIP capability being developed by Northrup and Raytheon. This aircraft will be able to fly for up to 30 hours at a time in a the high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) mode. With the initial installment of the MP-RTIP, it will be able to fuse its sensor data of targets and provide detailed imagery of them.
Here's a couple of pics:
SamuraiBlue
Captain
Actually there are four since the forth is still hanging on the inner hard point on the right wing.
With the UK publishing it's SDSR in about 2 month I think, it seems Boeing is getting ready to press the P-8 to the UK market. The armed forces of which seem to be inclined to favour that aircraft.
The question would then be if the UK can afford it in sufficient numbers.
The question would then be if the UK can afford it in sufficient numbers.