God of The Sea

Open Edition Print
S/N by the Artist
Image size: 22"x 28" including a 2" white border

Plane Type: Lockheed P-3 Orion

The competition to replace the aging Lockheed P-3 Orion began in October 2000. In June 2004, the US Navy announced the selection of the Boeing 737 MMA (multimission maritime aircraft)  and awarded a contract to Boeing for the system development and demonstration phase of the program for the Navy's next-generation maritime surveillance aircraft. The aircraft was given the designation P-8A in March 2005. The P-8's first flight was on 25 April 2009. The P-8A Poseidon is a modified Boeing 737-800ERX, bringing together a highly reliable airframe and high-bypass turbo fan jet engine with a fully connected, state-of-the-art open architecture mission system. The P-8 operates in the anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), and shipping interdiction roles. It is armed with torpedoes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and other weapons, can drop and monitor sonobuoys, and can operate in conjunction with other assets, including maritime surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Besides the United States Navy, the Indian Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and the UK's Royal Air Force (RAF) will operate the sircraft. It has also been ordered by the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF), the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), and the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN).