{"id":43840,"date":"2019-02-27T19:43:58","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T19:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/27\/australia-bolsters-capabilities-training-opportunities-for-its-p-8a-aircraft\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:37:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:37:48","slug":"australia-bolsters-capabilities-training-opportunities-for-its-p-8a-aircraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/avalon\/2019\/02\/27\/australia-bolsters-capabilities-training-opportunities-for-its-p-8a-aircraft\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia bolsters capabilities, training opportunities for its P-8A aircraft"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MELBOURNE, Australia \u2014 Australia is continuing to ramp up its capabilities of and training on the Boeing P-8A Poseidon multimission aircraft, even as it takes deliveries of more aircraft and looks at future growth for the system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to media at the Avalon Airshow<\/a> in Victoria, Australia, Group Capt. John Grime, the head of the Royal Australian Air Force No. 92 Wing, which handles maritime operations, said a main differences between the P-8A and the Lockheed Martin AP-3C Orion that it replaced is the amount of information the new aircraft can receive and process from its own systems as well as from other Australian and partner materiel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe connectivity and integration we get is an absolute step change, it\u2019s not something that\u2019s slightly better than the P-3, but a step change in how we operate,” Grime said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The networked capabilities of the P-8A and the reduced need for voice-based communication between the crew and other assets means tactical coordinators have the necessary situational awareness to effectively carry out complex operations, Grime added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the anti-submarine warfare systems the P-8A lacks, compared to the Orion, was a magnetic anomaly detector that identifies minute variations in the Earth\u2019s magnetic field, which could indicate a possible underwater submarine contact. A former Orion pilot, Grime was asked about his thoughts on this and admitted he was initially skeptical, but with anti-submarine warfare generally performed at medium altitude, and with the \u201csensor performance and acoustic capability means, [the lack of a magnetic anomaly detector] doesn\u2019t impact anywhere as much as I thought it would.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grime also touched on the Air Force\u2019s P-8A crew training program, with Grime calling the two simulators used by the service<\/a> \u2014 which replicate the front and back of the P-8A \u2014 \u201cthe best simulators I have ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that about 70 percent of high-end training is done in simulators, with the remaining done in the air. Australia is also adopting a distributed training approach with its simulators, meaning P-8 crews can train on a simulator that is linked to a ship at port elsewhere in Australia, reducing costs as well as wear and tear on equipment. <\/p>\n\n\n\t