Boeing to build 14 patrol aircraft for Canada

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This article was published 01/03/2024 (897 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Boeing has been green-lit to start manufacturing a new fleet of aircraft for Canada’s military.

The U.S. Navy issued Boeing a US$3.4-billion contract Thursday to create 14 P-8A Poseidon jets for the Royal Canadian Air Force, and another three for the German navy.

In November, Ottawa announced it would buy the surveillance planes from the United States to replace its current, aging fleet.

The deal cost more than $10.3 billion in total, including US$5.9 billion for the jets, The Canadian Press reported at the time.

Canada’s air force has been using CP-140 Auroras, which are more than four decades old.

Boeing says the new deal could benefit at least 3,000 jobs in Canada and add $358 million to the country’s gross domestic product over a 10-year period.

In the west — from Manitoba to British Columbia — the deal will impact at least 660 jobs and lead to $80.9 million in economic output annually, a Boeing spokesperson wrote Friday in an email.

Boeing Winnipeg produces parts and assemblies for the P-8s, including nose gear doors and wing-to-body fairing.

“We are honoured to have been awarded with this contract,” a spokesperson wrote in an email.

The company announced late last year a $20-million investment to expand its Winnipeg composite parts manufacturing facility.

Boeing employs roughly 1,400 people in Winnipeg.

StandardAero — another large employer in the Manitoba capital — is among the companies involved with the P-8A Poseidon. Upwards of 80 Canadian businesses supply goods for the planes.

Boeing expects to deliver its first P-8A Poseidon to the Canadian military in 2026.

Federal government officials said last year the planes will give Canada new capabilities, particularly in the Arctic, to hunt submarines.

Meantime, Boeing has slated an arrival date of 2025 for Germany’s first aircraft. The German navy procured five P-8s in June 2021; the additional three will bring its count to eight.

Last year, Boeing and Australia’s CEA signed teaming agreements to expand multi-mission platform collaboration (which means training) in Canada, Germany and Norway.

Boeing has 200 P-8s serviced or on contract in nine countries.

The P-8A Poseidon has seen 600,000 flight hours, according to Boeing. The planes have a wingspan of 123.6 feet and a maximum speed of 907 km/h.

— with files from The Canadian Press

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com