The US State Department has approved the possible sale of five Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft to Norway to replace Norway’s Lockheed P-3C Orion and Dassault Falcon 20s.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency has estimated the sale at $1.75 billion, according to a 21 December announcement.

Norway has budgeted $1.5 billion to replace its aging fleet of anti-submarine and electronic warfare aircraft, the country's minister of defence announced in November. Norway has scheduled the delivery between 2021 and 2022.

Norway’s approved sale will also include the Raytheon APY-10 maritime patrol radar, Northrop Grumman ALQ-240 electronic support measures and AAR- 54 missile warning system.

With those technologies, Norway’s P-8 fleet will resemble the US Navy’s configuration rather than the Indian Navy’s P-8I fleet. In addition to the US Navy's baseline equipment, P-8I also features a tail-mounted magnetic anomaly detection system and an aft-mounted Telephonics APS-143 maritime surveillance radar.

If Norway consummates the deal, the Scandiavian country would become Boeing's fifth customer for the P-8 aircraft, joining the US, India, UK and Australia.

Source: FlightGlobal.com