Originally published on March 6, 2014

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pentagon announced on Tuesday, February 25, a $2.1 billion deal between the Boeing Company and the U.S. Navy to build 16 P-8A Poseidon long-range maritime spy planes.

According to Reuters, the aircraft, based on Boeing's 737-800 commercial airplane, will replace the U.S. Navy's P-3 spy planes, which have been in service for more than 40 years.
With up to 7 operator consoles in it's cabin, the new P-8A planes can be used for anti-submarine, anti-surface warfare and surveillance work.

The planes are equipped with the AN/APY-10 maritime surveillance radar and signal intelligence SIGINT system from Raytheon. According to Military Today, the radar is capable of detection, classification and identification of ships, small vessels and surfaced submarines.

According to Reuters, the new order, to be completed by April 2017, will bring the number of aircraft ordered to 53.

The deal with Boeing follows a decision by Australia last week to buy eight P-8A planes for A$4 billion ($3.6 billion).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more!

Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS

Check out our official website: http://us.tomonews.net/

Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/
Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus