SHAH ALAM: The Joneses. Kiwi’s first Poseidon arrives home. Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) welcomed its first Boeing P-8A Poseidon MPA which touch at Ohakea airbase on December 13. RNZAF took delivery of the aircraft from Boeing on December 7. The three other Poseidon are all in advanced stage of production and are expected to be delivered next year.
The four Boeing aircraft will replace New Zealand’s current fleet of six P-3K2 Orions and will be based at RNZAF base Ohakea.
From RNZAF:
An official ceremony to welcome Aotearoa New Zealand’s first P-8A Poseidon aircraft took place today (13 December 2022) at Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base Ohakea.
Minister of Defence Peeni Henare, Members of Parliament, dignitaries, Ambassadors, High Commissioners, members of the local community, Ministry of Defence staff and Defence Force personnel gathered to formally welcome the first of four Poseidon aircraft, representing a once in a generation investment in the country’s maritime surveillance capability.
“The delivery of New Zealand’s first P-8A aircraft marks a major milestone since the 2018 decision to start replacing the Defence Force capabilities that have served the country’s interests, and those of our friends and neighbours, for more than three generations,” Peeni Henare said.
While operated by the New Zealand Defence Force, the aircraft’s capabilities will support multiple government agencies, including New Zealand Customs Service, the Ministry of Primary Industries, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Speaking at the event, Secretary of Defence Andrew Bridgman said “As a national asset, the capability exemplifies the principal of kaitiakitanga – it will support our stewardship over Aotearoa’s extensive maritime domain, today and into the future. It also reflects our whanaungatanga, our kinship, with the Pacific region and beyond.”
The aircraft was delivered to New Zealand by the US Navy where it was accepted by Ministry of Defence before being formally handed over to the Chief of Air Force Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Clark.
This is a significant milestone in the $2.34 billion Air Surveillance Maritime Patrol (ASMP) Project led by Integrated Project Team Leader Rob Whight and a team of dedicated personnel from both the Ministry and NZDF.
Secretary Bridgman also acknowledged the United States Government, the United States Navy, and Boeing Defence Services in his address. “You have delivered to us a fantastic capability, which as partners in the Pacific we will all benefit from.
“Experience has shown that the management of bespoke, small fleets, is not efficient. To this end, the decision to acquire the P-8A capability came with a commitment to remain in step with our partners as the aircraft is developed. The conclusion of sustainment contracts with Boeing Defence Australia and the United States Government for the life of type of the aircraft are evidence of this commitment.”
Minister Henare concluded his remarks by thanking the crew and support personnel who ensured the P-3K2 Orions were such a valuable asset over the past 60 years.
Work continues on $250 million infrastructure to support the new aircraft which will include two hangars, maintenance support and warehousing for spares, 5 Squadron administration, operations centre and a state of the art training wing. Supply chain issues have impacted progress on the build which is now due to be complete in 2023, with specialist fitout finished in 2024.
The remaining aircraft will be delivered by mid-2023.
RNZAF is the third FPDA member to operate the Poseidon MPA, the others being Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Air Force. RAF has yet to operate its Poseidon in Malaysia though. Other Poseidon users which have trained with Malaysia include the US Navy and the Indian Navy. It must be noted that RNZAF has decided to retire its Orions due to manpower shortage. This will leave a gap in its patrol capability as the first Poseidon will only be declared operational in July next year.
— Malaysian Defence
If we can afford, should we buy and operate Poseidon ? What are the altenative aircraft other than that ?
If we can afford Poseidon, of course we should adopt them
If we can, should we go for their excess Orions then? Doesn’t seem like it was replaced due to the plane itself or anything like.
Nope
Alternative for p-8 was kawasaki p-1
It maybe an alternative but not really a good option as it had not been exported
how about our own mpa procurement? or it is also dead in the water haha
We have our Leonardo’s MPA soon. Good enough. Can our MPAs launch torpedos? And possible to change to other types like Dash? Or already fixed with Leonardo?
“it is also dead in the water”
That is what happens when we keep changing government like used diapers. All of them smells bad. In matured democracies, plans & policies remain on course regardless of changes to the political government. Here we uturn 180degrees each time and we ended up the same spot we had been.
“We have our Leonardo’s MPA soon”
Are we? When PH first came to power, a lot of soons became frozen/ delayed/ cancelled. I wouldn’t be to sure what or when we will get the MPA or any others in the pipeline. We just have to see and pray hard.
Leonardo’s MPA deal is through open tender same as the the 3 MALE-Uas from Turkiye..so should go through and formalized in next years’s LIMA ..
The M109 deal is direct EDA and G2G so without any hanky panky yet it got cancelled when the units were being prepped. So nothing is for certain or concrete despite what Anwar said.