Poseidon's get a much-needed upgrade and remembering the Memphis Belle
Poseidon's get a much-needed upgrade and remembering the Memphis Belle
Navy P-8s receive an upgrade to enhance survivability, and remembering a famous B-17 along with her crew
“History is not kind to nations that go to sleep. Pearl Harbor woke us up and we
managed to win, although we are already forgetting the dark days when victory was
uncertain, when it looked as though the scales might be tipped the other way.”
-General George C. Kenney
Mission Briefing
BAE Systems Secures $95 Million Navy Contract for P-8A Poseidon Protection
BAE Systems has landed a significant $95 million contract from the U.S. Navy to provide state-of-the-art countermeasure pods designed to safeguard the P-8A Poseidon Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft from various missile threats. These advanced electronic warfare (EW) pods are engineered to detect and neutralize incoming radio-frequency threats, enhancing the Poseidon's defensive capabilities.
"We’re collaborating closely with the U.S. Navy to offer cutting-edge solutions that protect this essential, high-value aircraft," stated Don Davidson, director of Advanced Compact Electronic Warfare Solutions at BAE Systems. "We swiftly developed a highly effective system using established technology to counter air-to-air and surface-to-air guided threats."
Although BAE Systems has not disclosed extensive details, they confirmed that the pods incorporate a flexible, open architecture design. This framework supports rapid modernization and integration of future threat detection and decoy countermeasures, and it can accommodate third-party EW techniques.
Development and Prototyping
The Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract builds on a rapid-response contract awarded in 2021, during which BAE Systems and the U.S. Navy collaborated to design, build, and test a prototype radio frequency countermeasure (RFCM) pod equipped with towed decoys. The shell for this pod is based on the AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile, already certified for the P-8A Poseidon, which expedited the integration process.
A member of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 20 installs a pod-mounted radio frequency countermeasure system on a P-8A Poseidon, Mar. 12, 2021. (Image credit: U.S. Navy)
This pod includes tracks and housing to fit and deploy the AN/ALE-55 Fiber Optic Towed Decoy, a small form factor jammer, and a high-powered amplifier. This streamlined the transition from prototype to operational capability, allowing the pod to enter the testing phase in just over a year.
ALE-55 Fiber-Optic Towed Decoy
The AN/ALE-55 is a sophisticated RF self-protection jammer, already in use with the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler fleets. It works in tandem with the aircraft's onboard EW system, jamming incoming missile signals and diverting them to the towed decoy. Once the decoy is hit, the aircraft can cut the towing cable and deploy another decoy if necessary.
First fielded in 2010, the ALE-55 has proven highly effective against RF missile threats. BAE Systems has since produced over 3,000 ALE-55 decoys for global customers.
The P-8 is an important aircraft, especially in today’s ever increasing global tensions. Although not as glamourous or sexy as fighters, they deserve some recognition and attention for the missions they perform. As new systems and updates are added to this patrol aircraft, I will follow suit by including articles on it here in the newsletter - and you may even see a video on my YouTube channel soon!
This week in aviation history
A Historic Day in Aviation: The Memphis Belle's Final Mission
June 9, 1943: the legendary Memphis Belle, a U.S. Army Air Forces Boeing B-17F-10-BO Flying Fortress, serial number 41-24485, completed its 25th combat mission over Western Europe. Operating from Air Force Station 121 (RAF Bassingbourne, Cambridgeshire, England), the Memphis Belle was flown by Captain Robert K. Morgan and Captain James A. Verinis. The perilous daylight bombing campaign over Nazi-occupied Europe came with high casualties, making the completion of 25 missions a remarkable achievement. For bomber crews, reaching 25 missions marked the end of their combat tour, after which they were reassigned.
The Memphis Belle, assigned to the 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy), 324th Bomb Squadron (Heavy), was only the second B-17 to survive such a feat. To celebrate and preserve its legacy, the aircraft was withdrawn from combat and returned to the United States for a publicity tour. Captain Morgan named the B-17 after his girlfriend, Miss Margaret Polk from Memphis, Tennessee. The aircraft's nose art featured a "Petty Girl" inspired by George Petty's pin-up work in Esquire magazine. Later, Morgan named his B-29 Superfortress "Dauntless Dotty" after his wife, Dorothy Morgan, with which he led the first B-29 bombing mission against Tokyo in 1944, also adorned with a Petty Girl.
The crew and their aircraft were immortalized in the 45-minute documentary "Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress," directed by William Wyler and released in April 1944. This documentary, filmed during combat missions, was later recognized by the United States Library of Congress as a culturally significant film and preserved for posterity.
Following their return, the Memphis Belle and her crew embarked on a War Bonds tour across the United States. Post-war, the bomber was destined for scrapping in Altus, Oklahoma, along with numerous other wartime B-17s. However, a newspaper reporter's story alerted Memphis' mayor, Walter Chandler, who purchased the aircraft for its scrap value and arranged for its display in Memphis. Despite decades of exposure and neglect, the Memphis Belle was eventually reclaimed by the Air Force. It is now part of the permanent collection at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where it has undergone extensive restoration.
The Power and Performance of the B-17F Flying Fortress
The B-17F Flying Fortress was powered by four air-cooled, supercharged Wright Cyclone G666A (R-1820-65) radial engines. These nine-cylinder engines had a displacement of 1,823 cubic inches (29.88 liters) and a compression ratio of 6.70:1. Each engine, equipped with remote General Electric turbochargers capable of 24,000 r.p.m., produced 1,000 horsepower at 2,300 r.p.m. at sea level and 1,200 horsepower at 2,500 r.p.m. for takeoff. Under War Emergency Power, the engines could produce up to 1,380 horsepower, requiring 100-octane aviation gasoline. The engines turned three-bladed, constant-speed Hamilton-Standard Hydromatic propellers with an 11-foot, 7-inch (3.84-meter) diameter through a 0.5625:1 gear reduction. Each engine measured 3 feet, 11.59 inches (1.21 meters) long and 4 feet, 7.12 inches (1.40 meters) in diameter, weighing in at 1,315 pounds (596 kilograms).
The B-17F had a cruising speed of 200 miles per hour (322 kilometers per hour) and could reach a maximum speed of 299 miles per hour (481 kilometers per hour) at 25,000 feet (7,620 meters). With War Emergency Power, the bomber could temporarily achieve speeds of up to 325 miles per hour (523 kilometers per hour) at the same altitude. The service ceiling of the B-17F was 37,500 feet (11,430 meters). With a standard fuel load of 1,725 gallons (6,530 liters), the B-17F had a maximum range of 3,070 miles (4,941 kilometers). Installing two "Tokyo tanks" in the bomb bay increased the fuel capacity by 820 gallons (3,104 liters). With a typical bomb load of 6,000 pounds (2,722 kilograms), the aircraft had a range of 1,300 miles (2,092 kilometers).
The Memphis Belle was armed with 13 Browning AN-M2 .50-caliber machine guns to defend against enemy fighters. It featured power turrets with twin guns at the dorsal and ventral positions, four machine guns in the nose, one in the radio compartment, two in the waist, and two in the tail. The B-17F's maximum bomb load was 20,800 pounds (9,434.7 kilograms) over very short distances. Typically, it carried between 4,000 and 6,000 pounds (1,815 to 2,722 kilograms) of high explosive bombs. The internal bomb bay could hold up to eight 1,600-pound (725.75-kilogram) bombs. Additionally, two external bomb racks under the wings, between the fuselage and the inboard engines, could each carry a 4,000-pound (1,814.4-kilogram) bomb, though this configuration was rarely used.
The B-17 Flying Fortress was produced from 1936 to 1945, with a total of 12,731 units built by Boeing, Douglas Aircraft Company, and Lockheed-Vega. Out of these, 3,405 were B-17Fs: 2,300 by Boeing, 605 by Douglas, and 500 by Lockheed-Vega. The manufacturer codes -BO, -DL, and -VE followed the block number in each airplane’s type designation.
In case you missed it
The end of an era:
Photo Outlet
The C-17 is an important yet in my opinion, underrated aircraft:
Post Flight Debrief
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-Tog