Navy grounds 39 P-3s over faulty wings

[unhappycamper]

The Navy has grounded 39 P-3 Orion anti-submarine patrol planes, including 10 planes currently on deployment, because of concerns that a structural defect could cause either of the aircraft’s wings to break off in flight.


Navy grounds 39 P-3s over faulty wings
By Chris Amos - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Dec 17, 2007 13:54:07 EST

The Navy on Monday grounded 39 P-3 Orion anti-submarine patrol planes — nearly one in four of its inventory — because of concerns that a structural defect could cause either of the aircraft’s wings to break off in flight.

The grounding was the result of engineering analysis and computer modeling and was not caused by any actual structural failures, said John Milliman, spokesman for Naval Air Systems Command.

Navy engineers looked at several factors, Milliman said, including the number of hours a particular aircraft has flown, the maneuvers it performed while in flight, the altitude the aircraft have operated at and the climate in areas where it has been based in determining which aircraft should be grounded and which should be kept flying.

Milliman said each grounded aircraft will be flown to a repair depot in Jacksonville, Fla. Those that can be repaired will be out of service for between 18 and 24 months. Those that can’t will be retired.

Navy officials have not determined how much the repairs will cost or whether retired aircraft will be replaced, he said.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/12/navy_orion_grounding_071217w/



uhc prediction: Expect to hear about the need for P-3 replacement aircraft within the next two to three weeks.

[unhappycamper]

1. Silly me.

From today's Stripes:



~snip~

The Navy has 161 P-3C Orion aircraft, which were originally designed for anti-submarine warfare but now also perform search and rescue functions, surveillance to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and assist anti-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa, according to the Navy.

The average age of P-3C aircraft is 28 years, Davis said. The oldest aircraft is 44 years old, and the youngest is 16 years old.

The first squadron on the P-3C’s replacement, the P-8A Poseidon, is expected to stand up in 2013, Davis said.



Meet the Boeing P-8A:



http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/mma/

It has the fuselage of the 737-800 and the wings of the 737-900.


globalsecurity.org reports:

The contractor for the system development and demonstration phase is the Boeing Corporation. On June 14, 2004 They were awarded a 3 billion, eight hundred eighty-nine thousand dollar cost-plus-award-fee contract to develop the Navy's Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft. The aircraft procurement section of the program is estimated to be a $20 billion effort. And then the total life cycle cost for 25 years of life cycle support, as well as the aircraft -- is estimated to be about a $44 billion program. These numbers are FY '04 dollars, not inflated to be then-year dollars.


This line from strategypage.com caught my eye:

The P-8A will be the first 737 designed with a bomb bay and four wing racks for weapons.