The P-9A is a heavily modified Bombardier Q202 (DHC-8) commuter aircraft equipped for maritime patrol as well as advanced detection and monitoring missions. The four-aircraft fleet is owned by ACC and primarily tasked to USSOUTHCOM to detect and monitor narcotic and illicit trafficking from South and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
The P-9A is a government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) fleet and conducts more than 7,200 flying hours per year, primarily based from the Navy’s counterdrug cooperative security location in Comalapa, El Salvador. Aircraft also conduct forward-deployed operations from airfields throughout the Caribbean as well as South and Central America, lasting approximately 730 days.
Congress allocated additional funding in FY23 to expand the fleet by two aircraft, though FY25 requests no additional procurement. P-9s were notably staged from Panamá Pacífico airport (former Howard AFB), Panama, operating in conjunction with enhanced counternarcotic operations in the region in late 2025.
P-9A Pale Ale Technical Data
Contractors: Bombardier (formerly De Havilland Canada); Sierra Nevada Corp. (operator).
First Flight: N/A.
Delivered: Circa 2018-present.
IOC: 2013.
Production: Four.
Inventory: Four (contractor operated).
Operator: ACC.
Aircraft Location: Comalapa, El Salvador; forward operating locations across USSOUTHCOM.
Active Variant: •P-9A. Maritime patrol, detection and monitoring aircraft converted from the Bombardier Q202 commuter airliner.
Dimensions: Span 85 ft, length 73 ft, height 24.6 ft.
Weight: Max T-O 37,300 lb.
Power Plant: Two Pratt & Whitney PW-123C/D turboprop engines, each 2,380 shp.
Performance: Speed 333 mph, range 2,300 miles.
Ceiling: 25,000 ft.
Accommodation: Two pilots, two sensor operators.