HONOLULU (AP) - The Navy said Friday it wants to base a military version of the Boeing 737 jet in Hawaii, Florida and Washington to help it hunt submarines and survey ships at sea.

Eighteen P-8A maritime patrol plans would replace aging P-3C Orion planes the Navy has been using for almost 50 years at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay. The P-8As are modified versions of Boeing's 737-800 commercial planes.

The Navy said it would be too expensive to keep using the P-3C planes because the metal on them is wearing out.

"The P-3C aircraft is approaching the end of its service life," the Navy said in the final version of an environmental impact statement.

The report also calls for basing five P-8A squadrons at Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida and four squadrons at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington state.

Navy leaders will review the study and then decide whether to go with the recommended plan.

Kaneohe would have three P-8A squadrons, each with six planes, by 2019. The base now has three 10-plane P-3C squadrons.

Each P-8A is designed to do more than a P-3C, enabling the Navy accomplish more with less equipment.

The P-3C is a military version of a Lockheed L-188 commercial aircraft.

The P-8A will hunt submarines, survey coastal areas and ships at sea, and assist with surface warfare. The jets will carry torpedoes, missiles and naval mines.

The Navy would need to build a new hangar south of the main runway at Kaneohe to accommodate the new planes, resulting in the permanent loss of four acres of Bermuda grass.

But Kaneohe's wetlands, air quality and flood plains would not be affected by the new aircraft, the environmental report said.

Endangered and threatened species - like the Hawaiian monk seal, humpback whale, sperm whale, and green seal turtle - are unlikely to be affected, the study said.

The Navy initially considered Hickam Air Force Base on Oahu as an alternative Hawaii site for the planes. But both the Navy and the Air Force concluded there wasn't enough land available at Hickam to support them.