Boeing [BA] on Thursday said its defense business in the United Kingdom received a five-year, $321.6 million contract from the Ministry of Defence to provide the Royal Air Force with support for its fleet of P-8 Poseidon aircraft and aircrew training.
The RAF is purchasing nine Boeing P-8s, five of which have been delivered with four scheduled for later this year. The aircraft are used for maritime surveillance, anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare.
“Our new Poseidon fleet continues to grow from strength to strength and is already defending the U.K.’s maritime interests at home and abroad,” U.K. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement. “This contract with Boeing Defence UK secures our critical submarine-hunting aircraft capabilities whilst also creating a home-grown training enterprise and creating over 150 British jobs.”
Support work under the contract includes maintenance services, spares and repairs, supply chain management, forecasting and inventory management, and airworthiness services.
The training portion of the contract includes training systems and courseware for the aircrew and maintainers. Boeing will supply flight instructors to train P-8 pilots and has awarded a subcontract to CAE’s UK business to provide rear crew and engineering instructors, and console operators and controllers who will perform role playing and support functions during training and mission rehearsal exercises.
Boeing and CAE have developed and delivered two operational flight trainers for the RAF’s P-8 fleet.