Armed Forces News

A Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft made the aircraft’s first deployment with the U.S. 5th Fleet, in the Persian Gulf area. Seapower Magazine reported July 25 that the plane, attached to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla.-based (Patrol Squadron) VP-5, expands the area in which the Navy can conduct maritime-patrol missions beyond the Western Pacific. It replaces retiring P-3C Orion aircraft. The P-8A made its debut in December 2013 and had been operating solely out of Naval Air Facility Kadena, Japan.