The maritime anti-submarine reconnaissance plane plays an important role at sea, and its anti-submarine capability and good firepower are enough to counter the threat posed by other countries. P-8A anti-submarine aircraft is the latest generation of multi-purpose anti-submarine aircraft developed by Boeing Company of the United States for the US Navy, and it is the first of six initial small-batch trial-produced P-8A aircraft of the US Navy. It was improved from Boeing 737, mainly replacing the P-3C "Olian" produced by Lockheed Martin of the Navy, and the first Boeing P-8A aircraft has been produced.
It is about 39 meters long and weighs more than 62 tons. Equipped with two engines, the speed is about 900 kilometers per hour and the maximum range is not less than 8000 kilometers. The service limit is 1.24 million meters. It is equipped with anti-ship missiles, anti-submarine torpedoes and bombs. This is an ideal system to track and combat hostile actions. The airborne naval surveillance system is based on the Boeing 737 framework, which can perform anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks. By running in the air, the system is more flexible and diverse in collecting data than land-based or sea-based systems.
It removes the MAD sensor installed at the tail of P-3 Orion and adopts advanced airborne sensors and other systems, including APY- 10 multimode synthetic aperture radar. It can not only track the position of ships hundreds of miles away, but also has a high-resolution mode. It can find submarine periscope to detect and even identify different types of radars above waves, and monitor land and coastal areas 360 degrees. Its sonar, sound waves and hydrocarbon sensors can accurately detect the position of the submarine.
It is also equipped with the technology of merging data into "pictures", which can be shared with allied information. In terms of weapons and equipment, we should strengthen the carrying of harpoon anti-ship missiles, Mk-54 torpedoes, rocket launchers and other weapons, emphasizing shallow water combat capability and precision strike capability against the ground.
Secondly, the P-8 is based on the 737-800ERX short-haul passenger aircraft. It usually has three crew members to provide more powerful generators for its airborne electronic equipment.
Because of its wider wings and flying computer, it is smoother than Orion. Although the fuel efficiency is lower than that of P-3, P-8 is designed to perform most operations at high altitude. It really needs a reinforced hull to operate at low altitude, and thinner air can improve fuel efficiency, which is a better advantage for some sensors.
In addition, it can wander overhead at a speed as low as 200 miles per hour, and it can stay in the space station for a long time because of its refueling ability in flight. However, its top speed is 564 miles per hour, which is also 200 miles faster than the P-3 plane it replaced.
It can be said that it is a very advanced anti-submarine patrol aircraft, which plays an important role in the situation of paying more and more attention to maritime combat capability and will play an indispensable role in future threats.