Boeing’s P-8A mission system and weapon certification aircraft, Poseidon aircraft T3, has successfully completed its first flight test in Seattle, US.

The US Navy and Boeing conducted airborne systems checks, including engine accelerations and decelerations, autopilot flight modes, and auxiliary power unit and engine shutdowns and starts.

T3 is one of the six flight-test aircrafts to be assembled and tested under the US Navy System Development and Demonstration contract with Boeing.

T3 will join the two P-8A test aircraft, airworthiness-test aircraft T1 and the primary mission-system test aircraft T2, and will complete further ground and flight tests.

The navy plans to buy 117 P-8A anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to replace its P-3 fleet.