A Deep-Dive Into Boeing’s Militarized 737: The P-8 Poseidon
Story by Chris Loh • 1h ago
The Poseidon P-8 has been making the news in recent times as Boeing works to secure a deal with the Canadian military. The Canadian forces are looking to replace their aging maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft and the government had decided earlier in 2023 that the P-8 was the only suitable aircraft. With this deal ongoing, it's worth looking at this militarized 737 variant, its history, and its capabilities.
The background and basics of the P-8
According to Fi-Aeroweb, the P-8 conducted its first flight on April 25th, 2009. Full-scale testing of the airframe would then continue until January 2011. Months later, on July 7th, 2011, the first production aircraft made its initial flight and was delivered to the US Navy on March 4th, 2012. By January 3rd, 2014, the type was approved for Full Rate Production (FRP).
Based on the popular Boeing 737 commercial aircraft platform, the jet has the fuselage of a 737-800 but sports broader wings. The aircraft is powered by a pair of CFM International CFM56-7B high-bypass turbofan engines. As the US planemaker highlights, the P-8 shares 86% commonality with the commercial 737NG, "providing enormous supply chain economies of scale in production and support."
For aviation enthusiasts new to this militarized 737 variant, there can be some confusion around the naming. Interestingly, P-8 and P-8A are oftentimes used interchangeably, without much explanation on what the "A" might stand for. According to Boeing, the P-8 has two variants: The P-8I and the P-8A. The P-8I is only flown by the Indian Navy while the P-8A Poseidon flown by the US Navy, the UK's Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Norwegian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force. If Boeing gets its way, the Royal Canadian Air Force will eventually be operating these jets, but this is a topic we'll discuss further down in this piece.
As per Indian Aerospace Defence News, there are four big differences between the -8I and the -8A:
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