Once upon a time all maritime patrol aircraft had a MAD boom. Now the main players dont seem to think its a requirement. Have other sensors improved sufficiently that specifying an aircraft that can fly low enough to use a MAD is superflous or is it just down to cash ( or plastic submarines :-) )

Maybe there's a clue in the fact that Autolycus is no longer fitted either.

YS

The Indians call the P-8I Neptune

I'd suggest it's the main player (singular) that doesn't think it's a requirement (or at least didn't when the requirement was drawn up). The rest (UK included) have just had to go along with it as they are buying US kit off the shelf. We certainly saw it as a requirement when we developed the MRA4.

Not really, I know subs can run deeper now but lots of folks still use diesel subs.

Bit of a guess (I have no professional expertise in this area) but how important would MAD be to you if some of your targets weren't made of steel?

Like this but replace with Poseidon?

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....77e6b26d1a.jpg

RAAF will acquire 15 P-8A's plus Harpoon and new generation weapons with 11 external hardpoints under fuselage and wings plus a weapons bay. It has in-flight refuelling capability.
FRom RAAF website:

Only ever saw one Shackleton with a MAD boom and that belonged to ASWADU

You may find that both MAD and a sniffer isn't needed on the P-8A There are said to be sound reasons for this. I guess one of which is that the P-8A standoff sonar system and weapons. As well as working with the MQ-4 etc. Those that know why there isn't a MAD, are comfortable with the idea.

Temp Danger Areas in the Dover Straits for drones carrying out 'Maritime Surveillance' until Mar 2020; is that when the task will be taken over by Posiedons?

^^ I don't mean to sound patronising Chev, but I think it is pretty obvious what type of "maritime surveillance" is being conducted by drones in the channel, and I doubt the Poseidon would be the optimum platform (cost etc) for that type of close inshore role in the future. I would imagine/conjecture that a number of the roles us old jack of all trades Nimrod chaps/chapesses used to do, will now be conducted by other platforms - including drones - going forwards and thank **** for that frankly as some of those jobs were as boring as ****.

Given the number of aircraft/crews, I would again speculate that the P8 will stick to its core LRMP roles and training for them.

MAD on the P8, why have the Indians got it? Have they got less of an 'acoustics suite', do they not have the 'hush-hush' non acoustic sensors that make it obsolete? Don't they have Multi Statics or are they 'just not as good as us?' Was it a political/cost decision to exclude it from our aircraft? I'm not going to give away my background, but the step from the Mk1 Nimrod to the Mk2 ON DAY ONE was an improvement (apart from the CAMBS!). The step from my last platform to the P8 was several decades back. Nothing to do with politics or company spiel, just an operator. Stand off sonar? Are we talking Littoral or 'Blue water', cos I'd love to see your clear RF channels in the Littoral environment at altitude!(even if they occupy 50% of the original bandwidth.) Please forgive me if you think that I'm not glad we're getting the P8, at least this is a foot in the door and the seedcorn guys have got something to go back to. As for the Sarbe/Autolocus switch argument... grow up.. I doubt many of you were around on the MK1 days to have even seen it! And if you were :ok:

Lots of interesting public domain info out there:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...ne-sonar-soks/
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/0...ubmarines.html

Sorry, 37 years in ASW and I can't think of a single 'comfortable' idea! Autolocus, yes, that was a suspicious premise on day one of my first OCU. The Indians have deemed that MAD is necessary, 'Those that know'. what a wonderful phrase that is, it assumes that any contrary view is null and void, not worth looking at. I can't go into my background, but I'm really getting hacked off with people who should know better. I can understand if you've taken 'the company $', but please, leave the rest of the Kipper Fleet out of your justifications.

"MAD on the P8, why have the Indians got it?"

Perhaps because they have different challenges to the RAF in the N Atlantic - their "targets" are (maybe) afew, noisy, Chinese SSN's and whatever Pakistan, Iran and Burma have as submarines.

Slightly different from the challenge faced by the UK I'd have thought