Surplus,
There are plenty of cheaper and more practical solutions to P-8, even without involving BWoS (as you amusingly refer to them).
Airbus Military are delivering C295 MPAs as though they were going out of style, while Alenia are churning out MPA versions of the ATR 42 and 72.
Saab have a number of off-the-shelf solutions available, and Lockmart have proposed a solution based on the C-130J.
Then you have the Japanese P-1, 70 of which are being built for another maritime island nation….
And what do all of these alternatives have in common? All are cheaper to buy, operate and sustain than the P-8, and none of them rely on the unproven concept of delivering buoys and weapons from FL Nosebleed.
One gets the impression that the P-8 decision was made without serious consideration of any alternative, and I fear it has been made in pursuit of the goal of harmonisation.