Australia Received its Tenth P-8A Poseidon

06 September 2019

Tenth P-8A of thr RAAF (photo : Nathan Rundle)

On 29 August 2019, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) received its tenth P-8A Poseidon.

The Maritime Patrol Aircraft (serial A47-010) was flown over to its new homebase RAAF Base Edinburgh, SA, where it will be assigned to 92 Wing, 11 squadron "Shepherd or Destroy".

The Australian Government has committed to acquiring fifteen P-8A Poseidons. Twelve P-8As have been approved for acquisition, and three are subject to normal Government Defence acquisition approval processes.

The first Poseidon arrived down-under on 16 November 2016, the last one is expected to be delivered by March 2023. Initial Operational Capability (IOC) of the first eight P-8As was reached in March 2018.

Last June, the eighth RAAF Poseidon (A47-008) was delivered. This aircraft had been identified as RAAF’s long-term fatigue management aircraft and had been fitted with a raft of diagnostic equipment.

(Scramble)