2026 Archive : P8-A Poseidon Interior Carpet Reset Program

Project Details

Fabric 1

51 oz 100% Wool & Wool-Blend, High Abrasion Proof, Adhesive Back, FR Aircraft Carpet
Producer/Manufacturer: Lantal Industries
Primary Use: Main Fabric

Fabric 2

4" Fastener Tape - Hook & Loop
Producer/Manufacturer: MMI Textiles Inc.
Primary Use: Webbing/Narrow Fabric

Engineer Name 1
Chris Jachimowski

Engineer Company 1
Ehmke Manufacturing Company, Inc.

Fabrication Name
Bob Rosania

Fabrication Company
Ehmke Manufacturing Company, Inc

Project Manager Name
Greg Nichols

Project Manager Company
Ehmke Manufacturing Company, Inc.

Please describe the project specifications

Project Description:

The U.S. Navy utilizes an array of multi-purpose aircraft to effectively manage the modern-day battlefield. The Boeing P-8A Poseidon is an American maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and derived from the civilian Boeing 737-800. The $175 Million aircraft (with a Global fleet of 200 aircraft) serves multiple missions; including, anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW) and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) roles. The P-8 Poseidon's effective ability to search relies upon multiple sensors in a top-down approach. The U.S Navy calls on Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities to properly maintain their investment.

The requirement set forth by the MRO integrator customer required an engineered solution to reset the carpets in the interior of the aircraft to accommodate the various configurations of the sonobuoy deployment tubes, technician monitoring stations and seating arrangements. Fit of the approximately 70 carpet sections must align perfectly within tight tolerances and restricted spaces.

Project Complexity
Our Company was called upon to partner with the MRO integrator to design and fabricate aircraft carpet shipsets capable of meeting demanding environmental, operational, schedule, and budgetary requirements. This effort supports the U.S. Navy’s fleet-wide scheduled overhaul and maintenance program for the P-8 airframe.
The project presented significant challenges related to delivery timelines, material lead times, dimensional tolerances, and configuration complexity. Each aircraft is individually configured, meaning that no two carpet shipsets are identical. As a result, every shipset required an aircraft-specific solution, including an independent part-numbering and tracking system capable of accounting for the unique dimensional requirements of every individual carpet component on each respective aircraft.
Material lead times of up to six months added another layer of complexity, requiring accurate forecasting and production planning to support extremely narrow delivery windows, sometimes measured in single-digit days. This required careful coordination of material procurement, engineering, production, and delivery to ensure that each customized shipset was available when the corresponding aircraft entered its scheduled maintenance period.
Dimensional requirements were equally demanding. Each carpet component had to fit precisely within the aircraft interior without interfering with floor-mounted mechanical interfaces, access points, or equipment, while also ensuring that no edge, seam, or dimensional discrepancy created a tripping or snagging hazard for personnel or equipment.
The materials themselves are highly specialized for the aviation environment and meet rigorous military and aerospace performance requirements, including:
• Permanently flame-resistant construction
• Compliance with FAR/CS 25.853 vertical flammability requirements
• Compliance with applicable Boeing smoke and toxicity requirements
• Suitability for use in aircraft interiors

Project Results
Our company independently developed and implemented an entirely new manufacturing and engineering process to successfully execute the program. The solution incorporated new machinery, new materials, new production methods, and a purpose-built engineering and configuration-management process.
The resulting system enables our company to manage extended material lead times while responding to extremely short aircraft delivery windows and producing a fully customized interior solution for each individual aircraft. The process provides traceability from aircraft configuration through individual carpet component production, allowing unique shipsets to be engineered, manufactured, tracked, and delivered within the demanding schedule requirements of the U.S. Navy’s fleet-wide P-8 overhaul program.
By developing this capability, our company was able to transform what is a highly manual, difficult-to-scale customization effort into a repeatable production process capable of supporting a continuing fleet maintenance program while maintaining the required aviation safety, dimensional, quality, and delivery standards.

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