Boeing selects Bombardier business jet for maritime surveillance aircraft program

By BA Staff

Boeing has selected Bombardier's Challenger 605 business jet as the platform for its Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) program.

Tim Peters, Boeing vice president and general manager, Mobility, Surveillance and Engagement, said at the Dubai Airshow:

"The Challenger 605 is an ideal platform to host MSA's mission system, sensors and communications equipment. It also provides the power, payload capacity, range, speed and endurance that our customers tell us they need for missions such as anti-piracy; coastal and border security; and long-range search and rescue."

Boeing team-mate Field Aviation will modify the Challenger 605's structure and air vehicle systems into the MSA configuration.

Peters said:

"Field Aviation has extensive experience engineering and modifying the Challenger family of aircraft for a variety of missions, including maritime surveillance."

Field Aviation is currently modifying a Boeing-owned Challenger 604 jet into an MSA demonstrator aircraft that will complete ground and flight testing of the mission systems and be presented to potential customers in 2014.

MSA incorporates technologies developed for the P-8A Poseidon, the U.S. Navy’s newest anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance system based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737 commercial airplane.  

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Photos: Indian Navy's first Boeing P-8I maritime aircraft completes first flight

The first of the Indian Navy's eight P-8i long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft, ordered on manufacturer Boeing back in January 2009, completed its first flight earlier this morning.


IN320 took off from Renton Field at 12:02 PDT (00:32 IST) earlier today and landed 2 hours and 31 minutes later at Boeing Field in Seattle.

During the flight, Boeing test pilots performed airborne systems checks including engine accelerations and decelerations and autopilot flight modes, and took the P-8I to a maximum altitude of 41,000 feet prior to landing. In the coming weeks Boeing will begin mission systems installation and checkout work on the aircraft at a company facility near Boeing Field.


The P-8i is the Indian Navy variant of the U.S. Navy's potent P-8A Poseidon, a long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737 commercial airplane. Boeing is expected to commence delivery of the P-8i to the Indian Navy in 2013. The original contract for eight aircraft includes an option for four more aircraft.

In addition to the P-8i order, Boeing has an order from the Indian Air Force for the C-17 Globemaster III for its strategic and tactical airlift needs and is in negotiation with the Indian Defence Ministry for its AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter.

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Boeing commences building Indian Navy's first P-8I maritime aircraft

Boeing has commenced fabrication of the P-8I the long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft destined for the Indian Navy. India is the first international customer of this variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing is developing for the U.S. Navy, which in turn is based on the popular Boeing 737 passenger aircraft.

This is part of of an eight aircraft order placed by the Indian Navy in January 2009. Earlier, in July this year, Boeing and the Indian Navy completed the final design review of the P-8I.

The P-8I's first part, a bonded aluminium panel that later will be installed on the fuselage's upper lobe to support an antenna, was cut at Spirit AeroSystems, where all Boeing Next-Generation 737 fuselages, nacelles and pylons are designed and built. The panel and other fuselage components will come together on Spirit's existing 737 production line.

Spirit will ship the P-8I fuselage to a Boeing Commercial Airplanes facility in Renton, Wash., in mid-2011 for final assembly. After that, Boeing Defense, Space & Security employees will install mission systems and complete testing prior to delivery to India, expected before January 2013.

Boeing, along with competitor Airbus, have significantly expanded their footprint in India both in the civil aviation, and Boeing is leading the charge in the defence market. Both Boeing and Airbus parent EADS are strong contenders in the Indian Air Force's Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) tender.

Both companies are partnering with India companies to build a supply chain out of India, and both companies have opened R&D and engineering centres in Bangalore, long the technological and aviation capital of India.

Related articles

• Boeing Opens New P-8 Production Facility in Seattle. (planenews.com)
• BAE Systems to Provide Mission Computer Systems for Indian Navy Patrol Aircraft (eon.businesswire.com)
• Boeing sees no "compelling reason" for 737 upgrade - FT (reuters.com)
• "Indian Navy invites unmaried Men and Women to join Navy as Short Service Commissioned (SSC) Officer as Observer in Aviation Cadre of Executive Branch Course Commencing - July 2011" and related posts (careers-india.com)

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