The keel beam for New Zealand’s first P-8A has been laid by Boeing P-8A team members and Spirit AeroSystems employees.
This procedure, known as ‘keeling,’ was carried out at the Spirit AeroSystems factory, which designs and manufactures all Boeing 737 fuselages, nacelles, and pylons.
Laying the keel is a critical step in the construction of any ship or aircraft, and it is the cornerstone of this latest P-8.
The keel of an airplane runs the length of the fuselage belly. The keel beam on a P-8 is different from the standard 737 keel beam due to the novel in-line method to the production of commercial variant aircraft pioneered on the P-8A.
The P-8 keel incorporates special features of the P-8 layout, such as an internal weapons storage.
“The excitement of seeing this come together was contagious,” said Brian Stuart, P-8 program manager for New Zealand. “
“Not only are we kicking off the journey to the first New Zealand P-8A delivery, but we are strengthening our relationships with suppliers like Spirit as well as our U.S. Navy and Royal New Zealand Air Force customers.”
Spirit’s existing 737 production line will manufacture the panel and other fuselage components. For final assembly, Spirit will ship the P-8A fuselage to the Boeing Commercial Airplanes plant in Renton, Washington. After that, technicians from Boeing Defense, Space & Security will add mission systems and complete testing before delivering the plane to New Zealand later this year.
Four Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft will eventually replace New Zealand’s present fleet of six aged P-3K2 Orion aircraft, enabling improved capabilities to maintain situational awareness in surrounding waters both above and below the ocean’s surface.
