Boeing awarded $2.46B for P-8A patrol planes for U.S., U.K., Norway

Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Boeing will build 19 P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft under a $2.46 billion contract modification announced by the U.S. Navy.

The Navy will receive 10 of the planes, which can carry torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. It is designed for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and shipping interdiction. The United Kingdom will receive four planes, and Norway will receive the other five.

In a prior sale in September, South Korea purchased six Poseidon aircraft. The navies of India and Australia also fly the plane. Boeing built its 100th P-8 in October.

The plane is a modification of the Boeing 737-800ERX and is often seen fitted as a passenger plane. The modification contract, which includes engineering changes, follows a $282 million contract announced in May 2018 for procurement of parts to build the 19 aircraft.

The U.S. State Department approved the sale to the United Kingdom in March 2016, and to Norway in December 2016. The first of the U.K.'s Poseidon planes will enter service in October 2019. Norway's planes are expected to be delivered in 2022 and 2023.

The P-8A Poseidon is designed to operate with Northrop Grumman's MQ-4C Triton Broad Area Maritime Surveillance drone.

In a statement on Friday, the Navy said the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting agent. At the time of the award, the Navy obligated the full value of the contract to Boeing from fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement and foreign military sales funds, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.