Surveillance jets set to swoop down on Dubai Airshow

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)Boeing will display its latest military surveillance aircraft including the P-8 Poseidon at the Dubai airshow in November.

A derivative of Boeing's popular 737 airliner the P-8 is designed as an armed long-range maritime surveillance aircraft which can be used in anti-submarine and anti-surface vessel missions.

The US military has already bought 62 P-8s and India and Australia each have purchased eight so far. Boeing sees up to 75 more of the aircraft being sold to international customers including countries in the Gulf.

The company views the aircraft as a replacement to the Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft which first entered military service in 1962.

On a recent media visit to Boeing facilities in Washington Steve Tripp head of business development for the P-8 programme said the P-8 fulfills the needs of countries in need of long-range surveillance capabilities over water.

"The main use is over water" he said. "It does a lot of maritime domain awareness. Countries interested in maintaining an awareness of very significant EEZs [exclusive economic zones] over 200 nautical miles out from a country's borders [can use this aircraft]. For some countries with large coastlines that equates to a very large area."

"Not everyone needs or has the requirements for this level of capability. But for countries that do there is no aircraft that can do anti-submarine warfare in particular but all of the mission sets that the P-8 aircraft does" he added. "It's very effective and very adaptable." Another aircraft at the airshow will be the still-in-development MSA or Maritime Surveillance Aircraft a military version of the Bombardier Challenger 605 business jet.

The aircraft - which comes equipped with a variety of sophisticated sensors and intelligence gathering gear - is designed to gather intelligence but can also provide executive transport and medical evacuation capabilities.

"It's also a commercial to military derivative" said Bob Schoeffling senior manager for global sales and marketing for the MSA. "What that means is you get many of the same benefits from a commercial jet in terms of its reliability parts and spares availability in terms of its ride."

According to Schoeffling the aircraft's surveillance systems - which include forward-looking infrared and touch-screen workstations - mean that it is as useful over land as it is for patrolling the seas.

"Don't let the name Maritime Surveillance Aircraft fool you. Four of the five sensors are equally adept over land as they are over water. You can think about it more as a multi-intelligence aircraft" he said noting that it can also be used for border protection anti-drug and human trafficking and long-range search and rescue missions.

Schoeffling noted that there is interest from several Middle Eastern customers with whom Boeing is in "various levels of discussions" about conducting demonstrations while the aircraft is in the region for the airshow. "This is the year to bring it to the airshow and do the operational demonstrations" he said.

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Bernd Debusmann Jr. Originally from Mexico City I've been in Dubai since January 2015. Before arriving in in the UAE I worked as a general news reporter in TV and print in Mexico City NYC and Washington DC. I'm interested in defence issues politics technology aviation and history. In my spare time i enjoy traveling and football - I'm a keen fan of Chelsea FC. I developed an interest in the Middle East traveling through Jordan and the West Bank. I have a BA in Political Science from Dickinson College in the USA and an MA in International Journalism from City University London.