Kicking it Up a Notch: Poseidon’s Unmanned BAMS Companion
Related Stories: Air Reconnaissance, Americas - USA, Boeing, C4ISR, FOCUS Articles, General Atomics, Issues - International, New Systems Tech, Northrop-Grumman, RFPs, Transformation, UAVs
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The world’s P-3 Orion fleets have served for a long time, and many are reaching the end of their lifespans. In the USA, and possibly beyond, the new P-8 Poseidon Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft will take up the P-3’s role. While the P-8’s base 737-based airframe offers strong service & maintenance arguments in its favor, the airframe is expensive enough that the P-3s cannot be replaced on a 1:1 basis.
In order to extend the P-8 fleet’s reach, and provide additional capabilities, the Poseidon is expected to work with at least one companion platform under the BAMS (Broad Area Maritime Surveillance) and/or PUMAS (Persistent Unmanned Aerial Surveillance) programs. The BAMS UAV competition is widely seen as a fight between Northrop Grumman’s high-flying, jet-powered RQ-4 Global Hawk, and General Atomics’ turboprop-powered Mariner (a cousin of its MQ-9 Reaper); but Boeing entered an optionally unmanned G550 business jet.
This DID FOCUS Article explains the BAMS concept, the program’s key requirements, and its international angle. We’ll also cover ongoing contracts and key events related to the program… including the recent announcement of a winner.
- Next-Gen Maritime Patrol Systems: Issues and Options
- BAMS: Requirements and Missions
- BAMS: The International Angle [updated]
- BAMS: The Industry Team [new]
- BAMS: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
- Additional Readings & Sources
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