Boeing P-8 Poseidons on the way
Discussion
aeropilot said:
Is RAF Voyager boom capable as well as probe n drogue...?
Unfortunately not.aeropilot said:
Yeah, but we had four squadrons of them, or rather 4 x times as many as we're getting P-8's.....
We originally had 5 Nimrod Sqns: 42(TB) at St Mawgan, 120, 201 and 206 at Kinloss, and 203 on Malta.The 203 Sqn jets had the lowest fatigue index and became the Nimrod AEW airframes.
Eric Mc said:
I'm sure I saw one on the news reports. Maybe I was hallucinating. It might have been a US Navy one.
Aeropilot is correct, Aussies don't have any yet. We still have P3s, but I guess they are due to be replaced by the P8.The US Navy ones were used with MH370 and they have visited a lot to show the press what has been ordered, maybe what you saw.
The Indian Navy has a few as well.
Australia does have E7/E737 Wedgetails (AEW-C B737) and A330 tankers (KC-30A) with booms and hoses, not sure if the booms are fully operational yet??
They have ordered 2 more tankers but these will be converted from Qantas civil A330s.
aeropilot said:
And.......
Will 'our' P-8's be redesigned for AAR, or are we buying them 'as is' in spec, in which case, not only will we have less a/c than we had Nimrod's, but unlike Nimrod, we won't be able to AAR them either, as the P-8 is not probe n drogue fit, but boom fit as per most USA a/c.
Is RAF Voyager boom capable as well as probe n drogue...?
Come to that, do the US Navy have any boom equipped tankers? I thought they were all probe and drogue.Will 'our' P-8's be redesigned for AAR, or are we buying them 'as is' in spec, in which case, not only will we have less a/c than we had Nimrod's, but unlike Nimrod, we won't be able to AAR them either, as the P-8 is not probe n drogue fit, but boom fit as per most USA a/c.
Is RAF Voyager boom capable as well as probe n drogue...?
What a stitch-up; value for money is not what we get from the MoD, just nods, winks and no doubt well stuffed brown envelopes and NEDs too. P8 might be the best option but without a competition no-one will ever know.
PanzerCommander said:
Yertis said:
PanzerCommander said:
UK Government in short sighted blunder shocker.
By that you mean the decision to fart around refurbishing old Nimrods, rather than building completely new ones? I don't really blame the Government for canning Nimrod, it seems to have been an open-ended money-pit.- All the current in service (old) airframes.
- The airframes that were undergoing flight test.
- The airframes that were in build
- All the jigs
- All the tooling
- The site they were built on.
- PA4 was [iirc] actually post hand over to the RAF but had been retained at Warton for further use in development flying
- PA5 had completed EGR ready for initial flight tests
- plans were being worked up to rapid convert PA3 to operational ready status
The only "strategy" involved in the defence review was that of showboating to the media and public.
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