Description and Purpose

The P-8I is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface
warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft capable
of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations. The P-8I is a variant
of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing is developing for the U.S. Navy.

This military derivative of the Next-Generation 737-800 combines
superior performance and reliability with an advanced mission system
that ensures maximum interoperability in the future battle space.

Customer

The Indian navy is the first international customer for the P-8.
Boeing signed a contract Jan. 1, 2009, to deliver eight long-range
maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft to the
Indian navy. Boeing will deliver the first P-8I within 48 months of
contract signing, and the remaining seven by 2015.

India’s immediate need is for eight aircraft, but Boeing believes there is long-term potential for additional aircraft sales.

India’s immediate need is for eight aircraft, but Boeing believes there is long-term potential for additional aircraft sales.

General Characteristics

Boeing will build the P-8I at its production facility in Renton,
Wash. The 737 fuselage will be built by Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita,
Kan., and then sent to Renton where all aircraft structural features
unique to the P-8 will be incorporated in sequence during fabrication
and assembly. Aircraft quality and performance acceptance flight testing
will be conducted from Boeing Field in Seattle.

Background

Boeing was awarded a $3.89 billion contract for the system
development and demonstration (SDD) phase of the P-8A Poseidon for the
U.S. Navy on June 14, 2004. SDD activities include developing and
integrating all the necessary software and onboard mission systems and
developing training systems.

The P-8I is the first international model of the P-8A. In July 2010,
Boeing successfully completed the final design review (FDR) for P-8I,
locking in the design for the aircraft, radar, communications,
navigation, mission computing, acoustics and sensors, as well as the
ground and test support equipment. The final design review also paves
the way for the program to begin assembling the first P-8I aircraft.

Miscellaneous

Boeing and its industry partners provide unrivaled expertise in both
large-scale systems integration and network centric operations, plus
unquestioned leadership in developing and customizing military and
commercial products for maritime forces. Boeing leads an industry team
that consists of CFM International, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, GE
Aviation and Spirit AeroSystems. In addition, Boeing anticipates
substantial industrial participation on the aircraft from Indian
industry.

The Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23
“Black Widow II” — unofficially named by Northrop after its P-61 Black
Widow — was a prototype fighter aircraft designed for the United States
Air Force. It was passed over in favor of the YF-22 that has entered
production as the F-22 Raptor.

Design and development

The YF-22 and YF-23 were competing in the USAF’s Advanced Tactical
Fighter program. Conceived in the early 1980s, to specify a replacement
for the F-15 Eagle, contracts for the two most promising designs were
awarded in 1986, with the YF-23 delivered in 1989 and the evaluation
concluded in 1991. Many levels of subcontractors were lined up on each
side of the decision, and some on the losing side did not survive long
afterwards.

The YF-23 was designed with stealth as a high priority and was a
highly unconventional-looking aircraft with diamond-shaped wings blended
with the fuselage and a V-tail. The YF-23A met USAF requirements for
survivability, supersonic cruise, stealth and ease of maintenance.
However, the YF-22A was more maneuverable than the YF-23A and won the
competition in April 1991. Another factor was that the YF-22A was also
seen as more adaptable to the Navy’s Navalized Advanced Tactical Fighter
(NATF), though as it turned out the Navy abandoned NATF a few months
later.

Although the precise results of the evaluation are not yet public
knowledge, it is often claimed that the YF-23 was faster and stealthier
than its competitor, but the USAF chose the YF-22 due to simply being
more conventional, higher subsonic maneuverability, longer range, and
better warning systems. Others point out the YF-23′s comparatively
flawed weapons release mechanism wherein missiles are stacked on racks,
and a weapons jam of a lower-positioned missile could prevent the firing
of the missile above it. In any case, the decision is still widely
debated.

Testing

Two aircraft were built. After losing the competition, both YF-23
prototypes were transferred from Norththrop to NASA’s Dryden Flight
Center, at Edwards AFB, California. The engines were removed; NASA had
no plans to perform flight tests with the airframes, but did plan to use
one of the two aircraft to study strain gage loads calibration
techniques.

In the end, however, both aircraft remained in storage until the
summer of 1996, when the aircraft were transferred to museums. Aircraft
PAV-2 was in exhibit at the Western Museum of Flight in Hawthorne,
California and PAV-1[verification needed] was recently moved to the
National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio, where
it sits along side the Boeing X-32 in the Aircraft Restoration Hangar.
Aircraft PAV-1[verification needed] is now on display in an outdoor
parking area at Northrop Grumman’s production facility in El Segundo,
California.

Revival?

In late 2004, Northrop Grumman proposed a YF-23 based design for the
USAF’s interim bomber requirement, a role for which the FB-22 and B-1R
are also competing. Aircraft PAV-1 was moved from the Western Museum of
Flight to Northrup’s plant for refurbishment after being on outside
display for more than a decade. Instead, Northrup used the aircraft to
create a full scale model of its proposed interim bomber before
restoring it back to its original configuration and returning it to the
Western Museum of Flight. The interim bomber requirement has since been
cancelled in favor of a more long-term, permament bomber replacement
requirement; however, the same YF-23-derived design will likely be
adapted to fulfill this role as well.

General characteristics

• Crew: one pilot
• Length: 67 ft 5 in (20.60 m)
• Wingspan: 43 ft 7 in (13.30 m)
• Height: 13 ft 11 in (4.30 m)
• Wing area: 948 ft² (88m²)
• Empty weight: 32,934 lb (14,970 kg)
• Loaded weight: 51,320 lb (23,327 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 64,000 lb (29,029 kg)
• Powerplant: × General Electric YF120 or Pratt & Whitney YF119 , 35,000 lbf (156 kN) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 1,400 mph/mach 2.58 (2,240 km/h)
• Combat radius: 860-920 miles (750-800 nautical miles) unrefuelled (1,474 km)
• Service ceiling: 65,000 ft (19,800 m)
• Wing loading: 54 lb/ft² (265 kg/m²)
• Thrust/weight: 1.81

Armament

• 1× 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon
• 6× air-to-air missiles, including the AIM-7 Sparrow, AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9 Sidewinder