A team of engineers from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Naval Air Warfare Center China Lake and The Boeing Company are currently working together on the P-8A Multimission Maritime Aircraft program to execute the approved Live-Fire Test and Evaluation (LFT&E) Strategy.

This strategy is focused on vulnerability reduction and survivability enhancement while fulfilling congressionally-mandated LFT&E requirements. LFT&E testing began in April and will conclude through 2012, prior to the P-8A entering full-rate production.

Though early in its System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase, the P-8A program continues to set the standard for acquisition programs, and this phase focuses on one of the most critical areas - survivability.

“Fire is a major contributor to catastrophic failure of aircraft,” said Silvia Seng, P-8A live-fire test leader with the Weapons Survivability Laboratory (WSL) at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, Calif. “We are doing developmental live-fire testing early enough in this program so that the results can have a positive influence on the actual design of the aircraft.”

“The primary goal of the P-8A program is to provide the Maritime Patrol Aircraft fleet commander an aircraft that is continually effective and suitable for its intended missions in maritime and littoral environments,” said Dave Legg, P-8A Survivability lead in NAVAIR’s (Naval Air Systems Command) Maritime Surveillance Aircraft Program Office (PMA-290). “Vulnerability reduction and survivability enhancement are part of that goal.”

Preliminary fire suppression testing for the P-8A began at the WSL in April. Based on data from those preliminary tests, Boeing is working to develop an effective fire-suppression system. Development and verification testing of the system began in August and will continue through 2009. Full-scale live-fire testing is slated for 2011 using a P-8A static test aircraft.

Assessments by the Navy/Boeing team of advanced technologies and systems will be an ongoing effort to meet emerging requirements with effective solutions. The next fire-suppression test for the P-8A program will be on the trailing edge of a fabricated wing and is scheduled for September at the WSL.

“We have assembled a great team that is working closely together to ensure the safest and most effective warfighting solution for the future,” said Cmdr. Mike Moran, NAVAIR’s P-8A department head. “The P-8A will deliver a broad array of technologies for protecting the aircraft and its crew in order to maximize the likelihood of mission completion.”

The P-8A MMA is the Navy’s replacement platform for the P-3C Orion, securing the Navy’s future in long-range maritime patrol.

Built on a modified Boeing 737-800ERX, the P-8A will bring together a highly reliable airframe and high-bypass turbofan jet engine with a fully-connected, state-of-the-art open mission systems architecture. The new aircraft will dramatically improve anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities well into the 21st century.

The aircraft will provide more combat capability with a smaller force and less infrastructure than the venerable P-3C Orion aircraft currently in service.

Successful execution of the SDD phase is critical in getting the first operational aircraft squadron forward deployed in 2013. Full operational capability is slated for 2019. [ANN Thanks Renee Hatcher, Naval Air Systems Command Public Affairs]

FMI: www.navy.mil