WASHINGTON – The UK has officially signed off on procurement of nine P-8A maritime surveillance aircraft.
UK Minister for Defence Procurement Harriett Baldwin and US Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work signed the declaration locking in the UK’s purchase. The first P-8 aircraft will come online for the UK in 2019.
“The United States is our pre-eminent ally in global defence and collective security,” Baldwin in a statement. “This declaration is further evidence of how our two countries continue to cooperate and build mutual security, particularly in the North Atlantic region.”
Added Work, “This cooperation agreement ensures and deepens our interoperability and maritime patrol capabilities. Together, the US and UK will continue to deter regional threats and maintain a robust military posture.”
The UK announced its plan to procure the P-8 during the Farnborough Air Show in July. The estimated cost of the deal is around 3 billion pounds. In the statement, the UK claims that the P-8s will bring roughly 400 jobs to AF Lossiemouth in Scotland.
he US and UK will be joined by Norway as operators of the P-8, part of a renewed emphasis on maritime surveillance in the Atlantic Ocean. The UK and Norway have also had talks about how to reduce costs and find efficiencies with their P-8 future fleets.
In a Dec. 4 interview, Work called the expanding relationship between the three countries “really, really exciting,” and said he was “very confident and optimistic that you will see more defense collaboration and more defense ties” between the nations.
Speaking about the fact the three nations will all operate the P-8 out of Europe, Work said, “We haven’t had something like this since the Cold War, … and that just opens up a whole new level of possibilities for us to in the future do collaborative and coordinated operations.”
