[JLRC]

Boeing Team Completes P-8A MMA High-Speed Wind Tunnel Tests
 
 
(Source: Boeing Co.; issued April 13, 2005)
 
 
 ST. LOUIS --- A team led by Boeing recently completed 1,300 hours of high-speed wind-tunnel testing of the U.S. Navy’s Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA), which was recently given the designation P-8A.  
 
The three-month program concluded a full week ahead of schedule on March 18.  
 
The team conducted the tests at the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffet Field, Calif., using a 6.2 percent scale model in the 11-ft. transonic wind tunnel  
 
“I was impressed with the teamwork across the entire test program,” said Neal Mosbarger, Boeing’s flight technology manager. “We had three subcontractors on site to help with model changes, as well as Naval Air Systems (NAVAIR) representatives and Boeing folks all working with the NASA staff 24 hours a day, five days a week.”  
 
Mosbarger added that preliminary analysis of test data revealed no major surprises or obvious problems. He credits teamwork for improving test productivity that saved 200 hours of the testing time.  
 
An estimated 4,000 hours of wind-tunnel time will be logged in developing the P-8A. Designers used tools such as computational fluid dynamics to refine designs before testing to eliminate a substantial amount of tunnel time required to develop earlier designs. In addition, the 737-800 commercial airframe, currently in service with airlines around the world, has already undergone flight-testing.  
 
The Boeing-led industry team, which includes CFM International, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and Smiths Aerospace, will produce five test aircraft during the program’s system development and demonstration (SDD) phase. The Navy plans to purchase up to 108 aircraft to replace its aging fleet of P-3 aircraft.  
 
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $30.5 billion business. It provides network-centric system solutions to its global military, government, and commercial customers. It is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems; the world’s largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world’s largest satellite manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense; NASA’s largest contractor; and a global leader in sustainment solutions and launch services.  
 
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[JLRC]

Boeing P-8A MMA Aircraft Progresses toward Design Phase  
 
 
(Source: Boeing Co.; issued Apr. 28, 2005)
 
 
 St. Louis --- The U.S. Navy's P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program has successfully completed its second major review since contract award and received approval from the technical review board (TRB) to proceed toward the design phase.  
 
"The MMA team was extremely well prepared," said Stu Young, chairman of the System Functional Review (SFR) review board and technical director for the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems division. "The TRB had no reservations about general preparedness to proceed to preliminary design. This team is setting the standard by which others should be judged. Their progress since award is remarkable."  
 
An integrated Navy-Boeing team conducted an SFR of the aircraft from April 5 to7 in Seattle during which a review board assessed system requirements and functional performance. "The TRB determined that all requirements and performance allocations are defined and consistent with cost, schedule and risk constraints," said Tony Parasida, Boeing vice president for maritime systems. A preliminary design review is scheduled for September 2005.  
 
"We have created an environment in which people can excel," said Capt. Steve Eastburg, Naval Air Systems' Maritime Surveillance Aircraft program manager. "I am extremely proud of our team and the progress we've made so far."  
 
The P-8A is the Navy's replacement platform for the P-3C. Its primary mission is to provide persistent anti-submarine warfare (ASW). In addition, the P-8A MMA will contribute to anti-surface warfare (ASuW) and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) warfighting capabilities, as defined in the Sea Shield and FORCEnet elements of the Navy's Sea Power 21 program.  
 
The Boeing-led industry team, which includes CFM International, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Smiths Aerospace, will produce five test aircraft during the program's system development and demonstration phase. The Navy plans to purchase up to 108 aircraft to replace its aging fleet of P-3 aircraft.  
 
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[JLRC]

P-8A MMA Progresses Toward Design Phase
 
 
(Source: US Naval Air Systems Command; issued May 10, 2005)
 
 
 PATUXENT RIVER, Md. --- Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) Program successfully completed its second major technical review since contract award and has received approval to proceed toward the preliminary design phase.  
 
The integrated Navy-Boeing team held its System Functional Review (SFR) April 5-7 at a Boeing facility in Seattle, Wash. During SFR, the Technical Review Board (TRB) assessed flow-down of performance-based requirements to the functional baseline.  
 
“The MMA team was extremely well prepared,” said Stu Young, chairman of the MMA SFR review board. “The TRB had no reservations about general preparedness to proceed to preliminary design. This team is setting the standard by which others should be judged. Their progress since [the contract] award is remarkable.”  
 
“The MMA team again hit a grand slam,” said Capt. Steve Eastburg, NAVAIR’s Maritime Surveillance Aircraft program manager. “I am extremely proud of this world-class Navy-Boeing team and the progress we’ve made so far in the system development and demonstration phase (SDD).”  
 
The program’s Preliminary Design Review is scheduled for fall 2005.  
 
MMA is the Navy’s replacement platform for the P-3C, securing the Navy’s future in long-range patrol. The primary mission of MMA is to provide persistent anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability. In addition, MMA will contribute to anti-surface warfare and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance warfighting capabilities as defined in the Sea Shield and FORCEnet elements of the Navy’s Sea Power 21 operations strategy.  
 
The MMA Program was launched into development in June 2004 when the Department of Defense named the Boeing Company as the prime contractor for the SDD phase.  
 
Headquartered at the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Md., the MMA program is a department in the Maritime Surveillance Aircraft Program Office (PMA-290). PMA-290 is administered by the Program Executive Office for Air ASW, Assault and Special Mission Programs (PEO-A).  
 
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