Boeing-CAE to Train RAF Poseidon Crews for Next Five Years

Boeing and the UK Ministry of Defence have signed an agreement for Boeing to support the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) fleet of Poseidon MRA1 maritime patrol aircraft and train the crews that operate them. Boeing has subcontracted Burgess Hill-based CAE UK plc with a contract to provide training support services to the RAF for the aircraft.

Under the aircraft and training support contract, valued at $321.6 million (£233.5 million), Boeing will provide maintenance services, spares and repairs, including tools and ground support equipment, as well as supply chain management, forecasting and inventory management, and airworthiness services for the RAF’s P-8 fleet.

The training element of the contract, based at the Boeing-built Poseidon Strategic Facility located at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, will offer a suite of training systems and courseware to prepare aircrew and maintainers to safely and effectively operate and maintain the fleet training. Boeing will provide the flight instructors to train P-8A pilots, and under the terms of a subcontract, CAE UK will create more jobs in the UK to provide rear crew and engineering instructors, and console operators and controllers who will perform role playing and support functions during training and mission rehearsal exercises. Rear crew instructors will deliver training on acoustics, electronic warfare and other sensor and mission systems on the Poseidon. Engineering instructors will deliver training on avionics and other systems required for the maintenance and operation of the aircraft.

These agreements will create 150 jobs in the UK, including more than 100 at RAF Lossiemouth. Boeing employees are already working alongside RAF personnel at the station in Moray, supporting the current fleet of five Poseidons.

“We are pleased to partner with Boeing to deliver this critical training to the Royal Air Force,” said Andrew Naismith, Managing Director, CAE UK plc.  “The Poseidon will play a key role in the intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance capabilities for the UK and it requires highly trained aircrew to fully maximise these capabilities. We look forward to playing a key role in the preparation and readiness of the aircrew who will operate the Poseidon for the RAF.”

The RAF is on contract for nine Poseidon aircraft with five already delivered and the remaining four scheduled for later this year, when around 200 Boeing employees are expected to be based at RAF Lossiemouth focused on maintenance, training and support.

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The second of two Operational Flight Trainers, jointly developed by Boeing and CAE for the Poseidon fleet, arrived at RAF Lossiemouth in June. Both will be installed in the Boeing-built Strategic Facility, which accommodates three Poseidon aircraft, squadrons and mission support facilities.

The Boeing P-8A, designated the Poseidon MRA1 for the RAF, is a multi-role Maritime Patrol Aircraft that supports maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and anti-ship warfare for the UK, and increases protection of the UK’s nuclear deterrent and Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers. More than a dozen UK-based suppliers produce components for the P-8, making up five percent of every P-8 aircraft around the world. Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group has built and delivered more than 900 auxiliary fuel tanks from its production facility in Cambridge.