NAVAIR’s P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) Program successfully completed its second major technical review since contract award and has received approval to proceed toward the preliminary design phase.
The integrated Navy-Boeing team held its System Functional Review (SFR) April 5-7 at a Boeing facility in Seattle, Wash. During SFR, the Technical Review Board (TRB) assessed flow-down of performance-based requirements to the functional baseline.
“The MMA team was extremely well prepared,” said Stu Young, chairman of the MMA SFR review board. “The TRB had no reservations about general preparedness to proceed to preliminary design. This team is setting the standard by which others should be judged. Their progress since award is remarkable.”
After the conclusion of SFR briefings and deliberations on April 7, the TRB had one request for action regarding development of a Technical Insertion Plan before the review could be officially completed. The MMA team rapidly responded to the request, achieving a concise plan to incorporate accordingly. A letter by Young was subsequently sent to the program office on April 22 for official SFR closeout. The program’s Preliminary Design Review is scheduled for fall 2005.
“The MMA team again hit a grand slam,” said Capt. Steve Eastburg, NAVAIR’s Maritime Surveillance Aircraft program manager. “I am extremely proud of this world-class Navy-Boeing team and the progress we’ve made so far in the System Development and Demonstration phase.”
MMA is the Navy’s replacement platform for the P-3C, securing the Navy’s future in long-range patrol. The primary mission of MMA is to provide persistent Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW). In addition, MMA will contribute to Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) warfighting capabilities as defined in the Sea Shield and FORCEnet elements of the Navy’s Sea Power 21.
The MMA Program was launched into development in June 2004 when the Department of Defense named the Boeing Company, as the prime contractor for the SDD phase.
Headquartered at the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Md., the MMA program is a department in the Maritime Surveillance Aircraft Program Office (PMA-290). PMA-290 is administered by the Program Executive Office for Air ASW, Assault and Special Mission Programs (PEO-A).