The U.S. government has approved the sale of up to nine Boeing Co (BA.N) P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes to Britain in a deal valued at up to $3.2 billion, the U.S. Defense Department said Friday.
The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which oversees foreign arms sales, notified Congress about the potential sale on Thursday. Lawmakers now have 15 days to block the sale although such action is unlikely given close ties between the United States and the UK.
The proposed sale will enhance Britain's capabilities to provide national defense and contribute to NATO and coalition operations, DSCA said in a statement. It said the deal was a top priority for Britain.
via www.reuters.com
Good news. After the disaster that was the Nimrod MR.4 program, Britain gave up on developing any maritime patrol capability, and retired their MR.2 fleet. So they've had a gap for several years now. Between India, Great Britain, and Australia, that's helping push down unit costs for our own Navy's purchasing.
One suspects this won't be the last international sale. An awful lot of countries operate the P-3B/C and they are growing due for retirement.
XBradTC 
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