Ōhakea Air Force base welcomes second Poseidon aircraft

The second P-8A Poseidon 4801 arrived at the Royal New Zealand Air Force base in Ōhakea on Tuesday, March 21.

The second of four P-8A Poseidon aircraft has landed at Ōhakea Air Base, with the arrival marked by Minister of Defence Andrew Little.

The new plane was greeted by personnel at the Royal New Zealand Air Force base on Tuesday, March 21.

The Poseidon aircraft were purchased to replace the ageing fleet of six P-3 Orions. They were retired in January after nearly 60 years’ service.

Little said the Poseidons travelled faster, were more reliable and offered greater inter-operability than the P-3K2 Orions.

“This is important to support international partnerships as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts in our region and further afield.”

The Government has spent $2.3 billion on the aircraft, which were built by Boeing.

“With two of the four P-8A Poseidons now on home soil, this marks another significant milestone in the Government’s historic investment in Aotearoa New Zealand’s defence capability and maritime awareness,” Little said.

Air Vice-Marshal and Chief of Air Force Andrew Clark said the Poseidons would take on an important role in New Zealand.

“Whether it’s saving lives at sea, securing our vast maritime resources, preventing transnational crime, building regional resilience or defending our region against military threats, the P-8, like the P-3 before it, has the breadth of versatility and the depth of capability to take the job on,” Clark said.

The Poseidon aircraft will be used for aerial surveillance of areas of interest for New Zealand, such as the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the South Pacific and the Southern Ocean, including the Ross Dependency and wider Antarctica.

“The arrival of this second aircraft gives our defence leaders and our defence force a sense of confidence that they have more means to provide a meaningful response when tasked to do what they need to do,” Little said.

The Poseidons have a top speed of 902km/h and are powered by two CFM56-7B engines.

The aircraft will support a range of Government agencies, including the Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand Customs, New Zealand Police and the Department of Conservation.

The first P-8A Poseidon aircraft arrived in December 2022 and the remaining aircraft are expected to arrive mid-2023.

A new hangar is being constructed for the aircraft.

“Construction is due to be complete in 2023, with specialist fitout finished in 2024,” Ministry of Defence deputy secretary capability delivery Sarah Minson said.

“The hangar is estimated to cost $250 million.”