But nobody here has been clear about what the
the difference is between an MPA and MMA.
If it's the ability to carry a giant radar, or ASuW with ASMs, someone should say so. If it's something else that distinguishes the P-8 from everything else, I'd love to know what it is.
Likewise, the importance of speed. Until there is a sub that goes at 300 knots, what defines the necessary speed? The P-3 was originally defined as an interceptor to go out and prosecute contacts picked up by SOSUS (open source), hence the choice of a platform much faster than the P-2; but that was in the era of noisy Soviet hardware and I am unaware of any substitute cueing system.
It seems to me that a lot of people have decided that the only way is the P-8 and are otherwise going LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU.