PHOTO: P-8A 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. In addition, MMA will contribute to anti-surface warfare, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance warfighting capabilities as defined in the Sea Shield and FORCEnet elements of the Navy’s Sea Power 21 concept.
The integrated Navy-Boeing team that is delivering the service’s next generation sub-hunter held its Preliminary Design Review (PDR) of the P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft Program in Seattle, Wash. last week.
“The P-8A team continues to meet its event-driven schedule,” said Cmdr. Mike Moran, leader of the P-8A MMA Department in NAVAIR’s Maritime Surveillance Aircraft Program Office. “Naval aviation needs this platform, and PDR is a critical time for the team to ensure that we remain on our stated course to deliver this transformational aircraft to the warfighter. We are definitely on track to deliver this full-spectrum anti-submarine warfare capability on time and on budget.”
Team leaders from NAVAIR’s P-8A Program joined their Boeing counterparts to brief a technical review board on the status of the P-8A Program. Rear Adm. Jeff Wieringa, NAVAIR’s assistant commander for research and engineering, was the chairman of the review board, which included leadership from NAVAIR and Boeing in the areas of systems engineering, air vehicle technologies, weapons integration and mission systems development, as well as experts associated with software, crew systems, test and evaluation, and aspects of supportability and training systems. The fleet and the Office of Chief of Naval Operations also had members on the board to ensure an operational focus was maintained throughout the review.
“I was honored to chair the review,” Wieringa said. “This was the best major weapons system PDR we have ever reviewed. The teaming between government and industry was impressive.”
The PDR, held from Oct. 31 – Nov. 4, was an in-depth technical assessment to ensure that the P-8A development can proceed into detailed design, as well as determine that the program can meet performance requirements within cost, schedule, and other system constraints. Generally, this review assessed the system’s preliminary design as fully captured in the P-8A Performance Based System Specification (PBSS) and flow-down requirements documentation. The foundation for PDR was set by conduct of numerous subsystem and roll-up Aircraft System and Mission System Segment PDRs held by the team earlier in the year.
“We couldn’t have been more ready for this PDR,” said James Lackey, NAVAIR’s P-8A deputy, as he briefed part of the program overview that kicked off the review. “It is eye-watering to see how this Navy-Boeing team has come together to ensure that this very complex program stays solidly on cost and schedule. This is reflective of keeping a focus on our pillars of execution success: rigorous systems engineering, tight requirements control, proactive management by metrics, as well as development and sustainment of high quality human talent across all aspects of the program.”
Before the PDR can be officially “closed”, the team must close out nine action items. The program’s Critical Design Review is scheduled for early 2007.
“I think we did a great job in coordinating our team for this event,” said Mike Gomes, P-8A assistant program manager for systems engineering.
“Our success here was, in part, attributed to our past successes in conducting System Requirements Review and System Functional Review,” added Cmdr. Dana Dewey, P-8A deputy systems engineering lead.
P-8A 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 concept.