The second largest fleet (after the US Navy’s) of Boeing P-8I Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft continues to grow, with the delivery of the eleventh aircraft to the Indian Navy.
The Indian Navy acquired eight P-8I aircraft from Boeing in January 2009 through direct commercial sale and contracted for four additional aircraft in July 2016. The first P-8I aircraft was delivered to the Indian Navy in 2013 and the fleet has now accumulated 30,000 flight hours.
This is the third aircraft to be delivered under the execution of contractual options for four additional aircraft that the Indian Ministry of Defense awarded in 2016. Boeing reports that the Indian Navy was the P-8’s first international customer and today operates the largest non-U.S. long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare fleet.
In addition to its unmatched maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities, the P-8I has been deployed to assist in humanitarian and disaster relief missions.
Boeing supports India’s growing P-8I fleet by providing training to Indian Navy flight crews, spare parts, ground support equipment and support to field service representatives. Boeing’s integrated logistics support has enabled a high state of fleet readiness at the lowest possible cost.
Boeing is completing construction of the Training Support and Data Handling (TSDH) Center at INS Rajali, Arakkonam, in Tamil Nadu, and a secondary center at the Naval Institute of Aeronautical Technology, Kochi, as part of a training and support package contract signed in 2019. The locale, land-based training will enable Indian Navy crews to acquire the necessary mission competencies in a shorter time, while reducing training time on the aircraft, resulting in greater availability of each aircraft for mission tasks.
The Indians seem to be very satisfied with this weapon system, as they made inquiries to acquire another 6 units, which have already been released for export by the US Congress.
