Canberra has confirmed that it will join in the development of the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, with the country likely to receive its first of eight aircraft before 2018 when its Lockheed Martin AP-3Cs are due to retire. You can see the US Navy's really cool promotional video about the aircraft above.
The question now for Australia is what kind of high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) it will buy to operate alongside the P-8As. Canberra opted against joining in the US Navy's Northrop Grumman RQ-4N Global Hawk-based Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) programme, but Northrop remains hopeful that it the country will eventually buy the type.
More information on the unmanned requirements are likely to be released in the coming months and one thing is for sure. After the release of the defence white paper last week, the Australian military procurement plans are coming alive once again!
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