U.S. Navy aerial warfare experts are asking the Boeing Co. to integrate the Lockheed Martin Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) onto the Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $74 million order last week to the Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in Seattle to design, build, and test software and hardware to integrate the LRASM onto the P-8A aircraft -- a militarized version of the Boeing 737-800ERX single-aisle passenger jet.
The Navy issued a request for information (N00019-20-RFPREQ-PMA-290-0387) in February 2020 that revealed plans to fit the LRASM aboard the P-8A aircraft. The Navy also is interested in fitting the Poseidon aircraft with 500-to-2,000-pound versions of the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM); MK 62, 63, and 65 mines; Small Diameter Bomb (SDB-II); Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD); Bomb Rack Unit BRU-55; and Universal Armament Interface (UAI)....MORE
