Boeing

The U.S. Navy's P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program has successfully completed its second major review since contract award and received approval from the technical review board (TRB) to proceed toward the design phase.

"The MMA team was extremely well prepared," said Stu Young, chairman of the System Functional Review (SFR) review board and technical director for the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems division. "The TRB had no reservations about general preparedness to proceed to preliminary design. This team is setting the standard by which others should be judged. Their progress since award is remarkable."

An integrated Navy-Boeing [NYSE: BA] team conducted an SFR of the aircraft from April 5 to7 in Seattle during which a review board assessed system requirements and functional performance. "The TRB determined that all requirements and performance allocations are defined and consistent with cost, schedule and risk constraints," said Tony Parasida, Boeing vice president for maritime systems. A preliminary design review is scheduled for September 2005.

"We have created an environment in which people can excel," said Capt. Steve Eastburg, Naval Air Systems' Maritime Surveillance Aircraft program manager. "I am extremely proud of our team and the progress we've made so far."

The P-8A is the Navy's replacement platform for the P-3C. Its primary mission is to provide persistent anti-submarine warfare (ASW). In addition, the P-8A MMA will contribute to anti-surface warfare (ASuW) and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) warfighting capabilities, as defined in the Sea Shield and FORCEnet elements of the Navy's Sea Power 21 program.

The Boeing-led industry team, which includes CFM International, Northrop Grumman [NYSE: NOC], Raytheon [NYSE: RTN] and Smiths Aerospace [LSE: SMIN.L], will produce five test aircraft during the program's system development and demonstration phase. The Navy plans to purchase up to 108 aircraft to replace its aging fleet of P-3 aircraft.