Navy Surveillance Aircraft Achieves Test Milestone
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Edited by Robert H. Williams
Wind-tunnel tests for the Navy P-8A multi-mission maritime aircraft went off without a hitch at an Air Force test facility in Tennessee, says the Boeing Company. According to a company statement, a combination of missiles, torpedoes and mines deployed safely on a 6.2 percent scale model of the aerial platform. The aircraft is intended to replace the venerable P-3C Orion.
Jack Zerr, Boeing’s P-8A program manager, notes that “this major milestone moves us significantly closer to the start of flight testing for weapons separation and also validates the aircraft’s design.”