Navy completes P-3 to P-8 active squadron transition

The Navy last week announced that its 12th and final active duty patrol squadron completed the transition from the legacy P-3 Orion to the P-8 Poseidon airplane.

Patrol Squadron 40, based in Jacksonville, FL, completed a "Safe-For-Flight" evaluation May 14, according to a Naval Air Systems Command.

The Navy's transition from Lockheed's P-3 Orion to Boeing's P-8 Poseidon, a maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, lasted seven years, the statement added.

Separately, the service's latest budget request stops buying the new aircraft to "free up time, money and manpower," Inside Defense reported in April. The service's fiscal year 2021 budget justification documents indicate the Navy is allowing for an 18-plane gap between the program of record, 120, and the warfighting requirement, 138.

Asked about the savings achieved by not procuring the planes, Navy spokesman Lt. Tim Pietrack said, "There was no savings or investment achieved by not purchasing additional P-8As. Aircraft not procured represent an unquantifiable cost avoidance."