to 40 UK aircrews arrived earlier
in the year to join the US Navy’s
P-8 training unit, Patrol Squadron
45 (VP-45). All the UK aircraft will
eventually be assigned to Nos
120 and 201 Squadrons based
at RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland,
where a £100m operational
support and training facility is
being created. The first Poseidon
should arrive in the UK next year.
The Poseidon is a multi-mission
maritime patrol and reconnaissance
aircraft, capable of conducting
anti-submarine warfare, anti-
surface warfare and humanitarian
response. These capabilities will
be enhanced through secure,
interoperable, net-ready systems
that include the AN/APY-10 radar
and L3 WESCAM MX-20 electro-
optical/infrared (EO/IR) turret.
Four hardpoints are capable of
carrying AGM-84 Harpoon anti-
ship missiles while five torpedoes
can be housed in the weapons
bay and there’s also space for 129
sonobuoys for underwater warfare.
Once the Poseidon is in service,
the UK – together with Norway
(see Restructuring Norway’s
air defences, p44-48) – is set
to have the most modern MPA
aircraft in Europe at its disposal.
Compared with the AEW&C role,
the MPA/maritime surveillance
aircraft (MSA) mission is afforded
greater importance by European
countries keen to protect their
sovereign interests. France has five
Falcon 200 Gardian, four Falcon
50Mi Intervention, four Falcon 50M
SURMAR and 22 Atlantique 2s, all
serving the French Navy, while the
Falcon 2000LXS Albatros (Avion
de Surveillance et d’Intervention
Maritime, AVSIMAR or maritime
surveillance and response aircraft)
is now in the early stages ofAbove:With an order placed for the E-7 Wedgetail, the E-3D Sentry AEW1’s days in RAF service are numbered. The 1970s-era Sentry radar system has been
plagued by technical problems in recent years and its mechanically rotating antenna has been overtaken by more modern electronically scanned radars. Cpl
Paul Saxby RAF/Crown Copyright Below:The P-8A Poseidon is soon to be a more common sight in Europe, with orders placed by both the UK and Norway. Here,
a US Navy P-8A Poseidon takes part in a long-range strike exercise together with an F/A-18E from the USS ‘Abraham Lincoln’, during operations in the Black
Sea in April. US Navy/Capt Nathan BallouLeft: CAE Aviation’s modifi ed Saab
340, N441FF, was also on show at
Le Bourget, retaining its previous
‘Maritime Security’ livery. The satellite
communications antenna fairing
above the fuselage is immediately
obvious. Alan WarnesBelow: Dedicated
SIGINT aircraft are precious assets
among Western Europe’s air arms.
This is one of the French Air Force’s
two rarely seen C-160G Gabriel
aircraft, photographed while visiting
Gando-Las Palmas in the Canary
Islands. Niels Quist32 // September 2019 #378 http://www.airforcesmonthly.comIntel
Report
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