SASless: "Smoke signals from a camp site near a river in Maryland suggest the P-8 program is encountering some problems. Two engines shy of a real airplane....wings designed for hi-altitude cruise flight....MAD impossible at 30,000 feet.....Sonar Buoy drop patterns problematic from 30,000 feet.....being able to listen is nice being able to locate is the needed capability....then how does one drop a Torpedo from that height and it work upon arrival?"
SASless I don't know how reliable you pax source might be, but I hope these tales are not true. Sure all aircraft go through problems in T&E which need rectification, but as you point out a design for high altitude cruise may not be suitable for LL tactics and drops. The Indos have operated the -200 series Surveiller for many years, but I think they avoid the LL environment.
Sure turbofans will be better than turbojets at LL, but the physics of the aerodynamics have not changed.
I hope that the problems are exagerated, as the P-8 is the only show in town, and our P-3s will be stretched to last to 2020.