The National Post reports in its Friday edition that construction is under way in the United States on Canada's first P-8 surveillance aircraft. Postmedia's David Pugliese writes that the Department of National Defence announced Feb. 19 that production of Canada's first CP8A Poseidon reached its first milestone with the joining of the fuselage and other major sections. The plane is being built at Boeing's facility in Wichita, Kan. The aircraft will be delivered some time in 2027. The original schedule called for the delivery of the first plane this year, according to a March, 2024, briefing note produced for DND and obtained by The Ottawa Citizen using an access-to-information request. All 14 aircraft were supposed to be delivered by the fall of 2027, according to the federal government's original announcement in 2023 for the $10-billion project. Canada also has an option to purchase another two P-8s from Boeing. The RCAF leadership had rejected a made-in-Canada solution based on Bombardier aircraft as being too risky. The RCAF had argued it needs to further integrate into the U.S. military system and the P-8 would allow interoperability with the U.S. Air Force and other allies that fly the same plane.