Poseidon was the brother of both Hades, the god of the underworld, and Zeus, the sky god and principal deity of classical Greece. The kingdom of the sea was given to Poseidon when the three brothers overthrew their father. He therefore ruled both the water and the sky, making it appropriate that the Boeing P-8 airplane bears his name.
The Fundamentals of P-8 Poseidon
The multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft was created for functions such as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), search and rescue operations, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASuW), and shipping interdiction. It is a modified version of the wide-body 737-900ERX, which is used by commercial airlines all over the world.
The P-8 is capable of low-altitude operations and has flown more than 400,000 hours without an accident. With a relatively small crew consisting of a pilot, co-pilot, two navy flight officers, and three enlisted Aviation Warfare Operators/naval aircrewmen, it is capable of flying over broad oceans as well as in coastal regions. Along the port side of the cabin, the five operator stations are positioned in a sideways row. None have windows, although the forward cabin has a single observer window on each side.
Modern equipment designed expressly for the Poseidon is installed in the aircraft, including synthetic aperture radar, an electro-optical infrared sensor turret, and improved acoustic capability that enables the aircraft to conduct concurrent passive and active surveillance.
There are currently more than 140 P-8s in operation in two variants, including the P-8A, which are operated by the United States Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force, and the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force; while the Royal Norwegian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the Republic of Korea Navy, and the German Navy have also recently adopted the platform. The Indian Navy operates the modified P-8I, which features two major components not fitted on the P-8A: A Telephonics APS-143 OceanEye aft radar and a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD).
The two P-8 models are 86% similar to the commercial 737NG, which is said to offer significant supply chain economies of scale in manufacturing and support across the globe. The P-8 was additionally designed to last 25 years or 25,000 hours in the most demanding maritime flight conditions, including prolonged operations in icing environments.
P-8 Upgrades Soon to Arrive?
In November 2021, the U.S. Navy announced that it had granted Boeing a contract to begin work on integrating the service’s premier anti-ship missile onto the P-8A Poseidon. According to a report from Breaking Defense, the P-8A will be the third plane to receive the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, a weapon developed and manufactured by Lockheed Martin in response to an urgent operational need from US Pacific Fleet. The previous aircraft to receive the upgrade were combat-focused planes: the Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Air Force’s B-1 bomber.
a P-8A Poseidon assigned to Patrol Squadron (VP) 16 man their workstations while assisting in search and rescue operations for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. VP-16 is deployed in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Eric A. Pastor/Released.
This is much like the Greek God Poseidon receiving an even bigger trident.
Key P-8 Poseidon Specs:Powerplant: Two 56-7B engines with 27,300 lbs. thrust each.Length: 129.5 feet (39.47 meters)Height: 42.1 feet (12.83 meters)Wingspan: 123.6 feet (37.64 meters)Maximum Gross Takeoff: 189,200 pounds (85,820 kilograms)Airspeed: 490 knots (564 mph) true air speedCeiling: 41,000 feet (12,496 meters)Range: 1,200 nautical miles radius with four hours on stationCrew: Six to NineArmament: Torpedoes, cruise missiles
Now a Senior Editor for 1945, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He regularly writes about military hardware, and is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes.
Soucre: recentzone.com
