Boeing [BA] is set to deliver the U.S. Navy’s first deployable P-8A Poseidon trainers, the company said on Tuesday.
The company is contracted to provide seven Deployable Mission Readiness Trainers (DMRTs) to the Navy starting in 2019.
Boeing said the proposed DMRT design is portable, has low power requirements, and includes the company’s weapons tactics trainer system. The latter incorporates sonobuoy and ocean acoustics modeling.
“Training ensures the Maritime Patrol Reconnaissance community is proficient in anti-submarine warfare. By using these trainers, crews are trained without adding flight hours to the aircraft. DMRTs will fulfill these important requirements by providing high-fidelity, crew-based training to deployed squadrons,” CDR John Thoe, P-8A training systems integrated product team lead, said in a statement.
P-8A Poseidon aircrews are trained at naval air stations in Jacksonville, Fla., and Whidbey Island, Wash. Most of the training, 70 percent, takes place in simulators and trainers while 30 percent is in real aircraft.
Boeing noted it is also contracted to deliver a complete P-8A training system to the Royal Australian Air Force beginning in 2018. The contract was awarded last year (Defense Daily, Feb. 3, 2016).