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Maritime Patrol

Latest in Maritime Patrol

P-8 Poseidon flew over the college national championship to protect the president.

Navy P-8 Poseidon Used For Rare Presidential Combat Air Patrol Mission

By Howard Altman

Updated on Jan 20, 2026

A surge of aircraft from the U.S. to the U.K. has sparked speculation of a SOF aviation buildup.

U.S. Special Ops Aircraft Arriving In UK Could Point To Looming Oil Tanker Boarding Operation

By Howard Altman

Posted on Jan 5, 2026

A U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon flies a routine mission over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, May 31, 2025. Equipped with state-of-the-art radars, sensors and an air-to-air refueling capability, the P-8A is scheduled to receive periodic future enhancements to keep pace with the submarine warfare threat.

Danish P-8 Sale Set To Boost Poseidon’s Northern Footprint

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jan 2, 2026

Image of a Royal Air Force Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, seen here flying over RAF Lossiemouth. In a training flight conducted over the Moray Firth a Poseidon (P-8A) aircraft operated by 120 Sqn, based at RAF Lossiemouth, dropped a recoverable exercise variant of the Mark 54 Lightweight Torpedo, simulating an attack on a submarine. At just under 3m long and 32cm in diameter, the Mk 54 torpedo is small and light enough that five can be carried in the Poseidon's internal weapons bay. the high-explosive warheads on the live torpedoes pack a devastating punch sufficient to destroy enemy submarines that the Poseidon crew can locate and track using state-of-the-art equipment. The successful release of a torpedo is the latest milestone in the rapid development of the Poseidon in RAF service. Five Poseidon MRA1s are based at RAF Lossiemouth with a further four set to be delivered by the end of this year. The station, which is situated in close proximity to one of the aircraft's most frequent area of operations, is benefiting from a multi-million pound investment programme bringing significant economic benefits to the Highlands & Islands and Morayshire communities. The Poseidon is fitted with advanced, state-of-the-art, Anti-Submarine Warfare and Anti-Surface Warfare sensors which will provide global protection to UK, NATO and our Allies' submarines and warships in an increasingly dangerous world.

British P-8 Poseidon Flies Unusual Overland Mission Along Polish Border

By Thomas Newdick, Howard Altman

Posted on Sep 15, 2025

A RAAF P-8A Poseidon supports sea trials for the NUSHIP Hobart in the Gulf St Vincent off the coast of Adelaide.

P-8 Poseidon Officially Selected By Singapore As Its Next Maritime Patrol Aircraft

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 10, 2025

Footage has emerged taken from the cockpit of a Russian fighter jet, showing a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol plane fitted with a secretive radar pod during a mission over the Black Sea. The video underscores the growing importance of the P-8 for intelligence gathering in critical theaters such as the Black Sea, where a tense standoff continues between NATO and Russian assets, on the margins of the conflict in Ukraine.

Navy P-8 Poseidon Carrying Secretive Radar Pod Seen In Russian Fighter’s Intercept Video

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Aug 27, 2025

The U.S. Navy is scrapping a P-8A Poseidon that ended up in Hawaii’s Kaneohe Bay back in 2023, marking the first total loss of one of these aircraft.

Navy Scraps P-8 Poseidon That Ran Off The Runway In Hawaii Two Years Ago

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 30, 2025

The Argentine Navy has brought back to service an example of the classic Cold War-era Grumman S-2 Tracker anti-submarine warfare aircraft. Returning to duty a remarkable 73 years after the type first took to the air, the S-2T in question is currently the only example of the Tracker in active military service anywhere in the world. At the same time, the fact that the aircraft has been reactivated points to the very limited resources available to modernize the Argentine Navy’s aging air component.

Maritime Patrol

This S-2 Tracker Is The Last Of Its Kind In Military Use

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Jul 17, 2025

KC-130T Hercules tanker/transports belonging to the U.S. Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 30 (VX-30), the “Bloodhounds,” are gaining the ability to link up to the Starlink satellite constellation to help with long-range missile and other test work out in the Pacific.

Starlink-Equipped Navy C-130s Offer Communication Boost For Pacific Missile Tests

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 12, 2025

Airbus Defense and Space has begun a risk-assessment study for France’s future maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), to be based on an Airbus A321 airliner platform. Billed as a “flying frigate” by the company, the new MPA is intended to replace the French Navy’s Dassault Atlantique 2 fleet but arrives at a time when NATO nations are increasingly adopting the in-production Boeing P-8 Poseidon for their maritime patrol requirements.

Maritime Patrol

Airbus A321 Airliners To Be Modified Into “Flying Frigate” Patrol Jets By France

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Feb 5, 2025

Maj. Garret Dover prepares to taxi in an F-35A of the 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron, a tenant unit at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., takes off on a test flight at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, Feb 17, 2016. Six operational test and evaluation F-35s and more than 85 Airmen of the 31st TES travelled to Mountain Home AFB to conduct the first simulated deployment test of the F-35A, specifically to execute three key initial operational capability mission sets: suppression of enemy air defenses, close air support and air interdiction.

Escalating Trade War Raises Questions Over Canada’s F-35 Future

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Feb 3, 2025

A French Navy Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft was illuminated by the fire-control radar of a Russian long-range air defense system, while flying over the Baltic Sea earlier this week, according to France’s Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu.

Maritime Patrol

France Decries Russian S-400 Radar Locking Onto Its Maritime Patrol Aircraft Over Baltic Sea

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jan 17, 2025

Another long-serving U.S. military aircraft has completed its final operational deployment, with the return of the U.S. Navy’s EP-3E Aries II surveillance platform from the 5th Fleet area of operations. The countdown to the spy plane’s final retirement is now on, which will see its vital intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) mission handed over fully to the MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance drone.

EP-3E Aries II Spy Plane Has Flown Its Last Operational Mission

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Nov 7, 2024

The spy plane at the center of one of the most notorious post-Cold War Today air incidents, a U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries II, has arrived at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona, for future public display. The EP-3E’s journey to get to the museum has been a long one, starting with the dramatic collision with a Chinese fighter in the so-called Hainan Island incident in 2001.

EP-3E Aries II Spy Plane That Collided With Chinese Fighter Is Going On Display

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Oct 23, 2024

German Navy P-8

German P-8s To Fly From U.K. To Help Counter Russian Submarine Threat

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Oct 23, 2024

The Ohio class nuclear ballistic missile submarine USS Tennessee, the Ticonderoga class cruiser USS Normandy, an E-6B Mercury 'doomsday plane,' and a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft recently took part in an unusual show of force in the Norwegian Sea.

U.S. Ballistic Missile Submarine, ‘Doomsday Plane’ Take Part In Rare Show Of Force Off Norway

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 25, 2024