Boeing supplying P-8A training gear to U.S. Navy, Australia

SEATTLE, May 5 (UPI) -- Training systems and materials in support of P-8A maritime aircraft are to be provided the the U.S. Navy and the Australian government by Boeing.

The award from the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in Orlando, Fla., is worth more than $118 million and is a modification to an earlier support contract.

Boeing said the modification provides for the supply of two operational flight trainers, two weapons tactics trainers, and upgrades to the existing training system support center for the U.S. Navy. It also calls for the installation of two operational flight trainers, two weapons tactics trainers, one part task trainer, and one training system support center, with six electronic classrooms, 26 mission station desktop trainers, and 32 flight mission system trainers; as well as courseware for the Royal Australian Air Force and interim support for the government of Australia.

Work under the modification will be conducted in Whidbey Island, Wash., St. Louis, Mo., and Edinburgh, Australia.

Boeing said it expects to complete the work by 2019.

The P-8A Poseidon by Boeing is a multi-role aircraft capable of anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, shipping interdiction, and electronic signals intelligence. It carries torpedoes, depth charges, SLAM-ER missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and other weapons.