The Defense Department plans to explore options on how it can assist the U.K. in maritime surveillance efforts before the British military receives its first P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft from the U.S., Defense News reported Tuesday.
According to the story by Aaron Mehta, the U.K. seeks to procure up to nine Boeing-built P-8s as part of efforts to increase the country’s airborne anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work told the publication that Philip Dunne, British minister for defense procurement, has asked him what options they might consider to help address a maritime patrol capability gap in the U.K.
“We’re going to talk with the Navy and see what might be able to be worked out,” Work told Defense News.
Mehta reports some British military personnel have trained on the U.S. Navy‘s P-8s since after the U.K. cancelled its Nimrod acquisition program in 2010.
Robert Work also told Defense News that the U.S. will work to ensure the P-8 production line will not face interruptions that could possibly delay deliveries of the aircraft to the U.K.
