Norway purchases Boeing P-8 Poseidon

FARNBOROUGH, England — The P-8A Poseidon may soon be flying for Norway, a senior U.S. Navy official said here Tuesday.
On the heels of an announcement that the United Kingdom had contracted to buy nine of the Boeing-made maritime patrol aircraft, Navy P-8A program manager Capt. Tony Rossi confirmed that Norway had expressed interest in acquiring the aircraft, with more nations likely to follow.
“We have been in discussions with Norway, helping them understand what they’re looking for as far as requirements … nothing specific so far,” he said.
Several additional countries that Rossi did not name are in the development phase of identifying requirements, he said. But he did offer a clue as to where new international business might come from.
“Virtually everywhere that P-3s fly today is a potential customer for the P-8,” he said.
The Lockheed Martin Corp.-made P-3C Orion, modeled after the L-188 Electra airliner, is the predecessor to the P-8, having entered service in the Navy in 1959. The Poseidon is based on Boeing’s 737 commercial airliner. Current plans call for the service to phase out the Orion by 2019, when it expects to complete procurement of the 109 Poseidons it plans to acquire.
The Poseidon is now in service as well with the Indian Navy. And at the start of this year, the Royal Australian Air Force confirmed an order for four more of the aircraft, bringing its total to 12. Earlier this year, multiple outlets reported that the Turkish Navy was also considering a P-8 buy, though no agreement has been announced yet.
In all, 17 nations have flown a variant of the Orion, with other major customers including Japan, Germany and Brazil, among others.
As production of the aircraft enters its eighth lot, officials said the cost of the aircraft has now decreased by 30 percent from what it was during the first production lot.
“We’re able to make it more efficiently; we’re able to make it faster, and all those savings are passed on to the customer directly,” said Steve Tripp, Boeing’s military aircraft global sales and marketing executive.
“I suspect all of our new customers are enjoying the fact that the U.S. Navy is procuring the aircraft in significant quantities,” he said.
The Poseidon aircraft ordered by the United Kingdom this week will be manufactured on the same Seattle production line as the U.S. aircraft, spread out across three different lots. They’re slated for delivery to the Royal Air Force beginning in 2019.
Military.com

NOTED: The government has signed a memorandum of new surveillance aircraft. Defense Ministry estimates that aircraft will cost about eleven billion kroner.
After the class struggle experience, Ministry of Defence has signed a letter of intent for the purchase of surveillance planes P8 Poseidon. The highly advanced intelligence aircraft produced by Boeing of the US and to replace the old Orion aircraft that goes into disuse a few years.
The class struggle are told that the Ministry of Defence operates with an estimate of eleven billion for the aircraft purchase.
Thus the government is about to make autumn even more difficult for representatives of the foreign and defense committee in Parliament. The brewing battle in Parliament when Long-Term Plan for the Armed Forces shall be treated in the autumn. Lack of money combined with huge investment in combat aircraft and submarines makes many fear that the traditional land system becomes weakened.
It is in the midst of the heated budget battle over the Norwegian defense capability that the government, after the class struggle experience, plan to spend eleven billion.
Strategically important for NATO
The Norwegian waters is very important for NATO, especially US and UK. Russian submarines heading out into the Atlantic passing through the Barents Sea, where the Norwegian intelligence service keeps an eye on the sea. Together with a network of sonar buoys captures the Norwegian surveillance planes up audio signals from submarines passing through the northern seas.
Surveillance planes are central Orion and flown by 333 Squadron in the Air Force from Andøya Air Station. The aircraft must be retired for good in a few years, and in the defense sector has for some time been discussing how aircraft should be replaced.
333 Squadron at Andøya has four Orion aircraft of the type P-3C. The planes used to detect submarines, and also carries torpedoes.
Today’s airplanes came into use in 1989, and has been a very important part of the Norwegian intelligence service’s contribution both to NATO and to the bilateral intelligence cooperation with the US.
Pressed defense economy
In October last year recommended defense chief Haakon Bruun-Hansen “for economic reasons” that “ambition airborne long-range underwater surveillance and -krigføring given a lower priority.”
When he presented his professional military advice, with a need for a total of 180 billion more over the next 20 years, therefore the purchase of P8 Poseidon not included in the calculation. Instead suggested Bruun-Hansen to replace planes with drones.
New manned aircraft, however, is built in Long-Term Plan for the Armed Forces, which the government presented on 17 June this year. There will be added up to the purchase of “maritime patrol aircraft to replace the current P-3C Orion.” The planes are scheduled to be flown from Evenes.
That means intelligence planes coming on top of the 180 billion defense chief believes he needs the next 20 years. The government has been willing to schedule an increase of 165 billion.
It has not previously been known how much the new intelligence planes will cost. The class struggle will now informed that the ministry operates with an estimate of eleven billion. The purchases will be made from 2020, four years ahead.
Do not debunk
The class struggle has been in contact with the Ministry of Defence with questions about the memorandum. The ministry has not been willing to confirm or deny the information class struggle sitting on.
State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence Øystein Bø answers yet on email that surveillance planes “will be decisive action to strengthen our ability to sovereignty in its own neighborhood and in monitoring the waters.”
Bo writes that NATO emphasize monitoring in the North Atlantic, and that the government “has a good dialogue with allies about obtaining a replacement for the current P3 Orion. This is an ongoing process, where we are working to find the most appropriate solution. ”
The Secretary of State stressed that “the government will return to Parliament with further information on the investment project, including detailed descriptions of the level of ambition and the number of maritime patrol,” and concludes:
“It is too early to go into detail about the details of this.”
It is expected that most The opposition and supporting parties in parliament will support the government’s proposal to buy the planes.
Klassekampen (via Google Translate)

Original Article:
ETTERRETNING: Regjeringen har tegnet en intensjonsavtale om nye overvåkingsfly. Forsvarsdepartementet anslår at flyene vil koste omtrent elleve milliarder kroner.
Etter det Klassekampen erfarer, har Forsvarsdepartementet inngått en intensjonsavtale om kjøp av overvåkings­flyene P8 Poseidon. De svært avanserte etterretningsflyene produseres av det amerikanske selskapet Boeing og skal erstatte de gamle Orion-flyene som går ut av bruk om få år.
Klassekampen får opplyst at Forsvarsdepartementet opererer med et anslag på elleve milliarder kroner for flykjøpet.
Dermed er regjeringen i ferd med å gjøre høsten enda vanskeligere for representantene i utenriks- og forsvars­komiteen på Stortinget. Det brygger opp til slag i Stortinget når langtidsplanen for Forsvaret skal behandles til høsten. Pengemangel kombinert med store investeringer i kampfly og ubåter gjør at mange frykter at det tradisjonelle landforsvaret blir svekket.
Det er midt oppe i den opphetede budsjettstriden om norsk forsvarsevne at regjeringen, etter det Klassekampen erfarer, planlegger å bruke ytterligere elleve milliarder kroner.
Strategisk viktig for Nato
De norske havområdene er svært viktige for Nato, spesielt for USA og Storbritannia. Russiske ubåter på vei ut i Atlanteren passerer gjennom Barentshavet, der den norske etterretningstjenesten holder oppsikt med sjøen. Sammen med et nettverk av sonarbøyer fanger de norske overvåkingsflyene opp lydsignaler fra ubåter som passerer gjennom havområdene i nord.
Overvåkings­flyene er av typen Orion og flys av 333-skvadronen i Luftforsvaret fra Andøya flystasjon. Flyene må settes på bakken for godt om få år, og i forsvarssektoren har det i lengre tid vært diskutert hvordan flyene skal erstattes.
333-skvadronen på Andøya har i dag fire Orion-fly av typen P-3C. Flyene brukes for å oppdage ubåter, og bærer også torpedoer.
Dagens fly kom i bruk i 1989, og har vært en svært viktig del av den norske etterretningstjenestens bidrag både til Nato og til det bilaterale etterretningssamarbeidet med USA .
Presset forsvarsøkonomi
I oktober i fjor anbefalte forsvarssjef Haakon Bruun-Hansen «av økonomiske grunner» at «ambisjonen om luftbåren langtrekkende undervanns­overvåking og -krigføring prioriteres ned».
Da han la fram sitt fagmilitære råd, med et behov for til sammen 180 milliarder mer de neste 20 årene, var derfor kjøp av P8 Poseidon ikke med i regnestykket. I stedet foreslo Bruun-Hansen å erstatte flyene med droner.
Nye bemannede fly ligger derimot inne i langtidsplanen for Forsvaret, som regjeringen la fram 17. juni i år. Der blir det lagt opp til kjøp av «maritime patruljefly til erstatning for dagens P-3C Orion». Flyene skal etter planen flys fra Evenes.
Det betyr at etterretningsflyene kommer på toppen av de 180 milliardene Forsvarssjefen mener han trenger de neste 20 årene. Regjeringen har vært villig til å planlegge en økning på 165 milliarder.
Det har ikke tidligere vært kjent hvor mye de nye etterretningsflyene vil koste. Klassekampen får nå opplyst at departementet opererer med et anslag på elleve milliarder kroner. Innkjøpene skal gjøres fra 2020, fire år fram i tid.
Vil ikke avkrefte
Klassekampen har vært i kontakt med Forsvarsdepartementet med spørsmål om intensjonsavtalen. Departementet har ikke vært villig til å bekrefte eller avkrefte informasjonen Klassekampen sitter på.
Statssekretær i Forsvars­departementet Øystein Bø svarer likevel på e-post at overvåkingsflyene «vil være avgjørende tiltak for å styrke vår evne til suverenitetshevdelse i egne nærområder og til overvåkning av havområdene».
Bø skriver at Nato legger vekt på overvåking i Nord-Atlanteren, og at regjeringen «har en god dialog med allierte om anskaffelsen av en erstatning for dagens P3 Orion. Dette er en pågående prosess, der vi jobber med å finne den mest hensiktsmessige løsningen.»
Statssekretæren understreker at «regjeringen vil komme tilbake til Stortinget med ytterligere informasjon om investeringsprosjektet, inkludert nærmere beskrivelser av ambisjonsnivå og antall maritime patruljefly», og avslutter:
«Det er for tidlig å gå nærmere inn på detaljene i dette.»
Det er ventet at de fleste opposisjons- og støttepartiene på Stortinget vil støtte regjeringens forslag om å kjøpe flyene.
Klassekampen