NAVAL AIR STATION JACKSONVILLE, Fla., April 7, 2014 — Boeing [NYSE: BA] will broaden its support for the U.S. Navy’s fleet of Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft through a recent order for maintenance simulators.

The Navy plans to begin using six virtual trainers, one ordnance load trainer and 14 hardware-based devices to train P-8A maintenance personnel at Naval Air Station Jacksonville starting in 2016.

“As the manufacturer of the P-8A aircraft, Boeing offers unmatched expertise that translates directly into fleet readiness,” said Mark McGraw, vice president of Training Systems and Government Services for Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

The virtual maintenance training devices provide interactive, high-fidelity simulations based on actual mission systems software, while the hardware-based trainers are full-scale replicas of aircraft components.

Boeing has previously delivered several aircrew training devices for the P-8A, which is based on the Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 commercial aircraft. The Navy plans to purchase 117 to replace its fleet of P-3 aircraft, and Boeing has delivered 12 to date.