Boeing handed over the seventh production P-8A Poseidon to the US Navy on schedule March 29, marking the first delivery from the second low-rate initial production contract awarded in November 2011.

The maritime patrol aircraft departed Boeing Field in Seattle for Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, where it joined six P-8As currently being used to train Navy crews.

“This is our second P-8A delivery of 2013, and we’ll continue to provide the Navy with new Poseidon aircraft at a rate of nearly one a month,” said Rick Heerdt, Boeing Vice President and P-8 Program Manager. “We’ve got a full factory of P-8As for the US Navy and P-8I aircraft for India, and we’re working side-byside with both customers to introduce the aircraft’s advanced capabilities into their fleets.”

Boeing is on contract to build and support 24 P-8A aircraft as part of three LRIP contracts awarded in 2011 and 2012. The Navy plans to purchase 117 P-8As, which are based on the next-generation Boeing 737-800 platform. The versatile multi-mission aircraft provides broad long-range maritime patrol capabilities – anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance — and will replace the Navy P-3 fleet.