Boeing delivers 11th P-8I Poseidon MPA to the Indian Navy

Boeing announced the delivery of the country’s 11th P-8I Poseidon, which would help the Indian Navy’s long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities.

The patrol aircraft is an important part of the Indian Navy’s fleet, having logged over 30,000 flight hours since its introduction in 2013.

This is the third aircraft to be delivered under a contract option for four further aircraft awarded by the Indian Ministry of Defence in 2016. The Indian Navy was the P-8’s first overseas customer, and it now has the largest non-US fleet. The P-8 is also used by the US Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force, and the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom.

In addition to superior maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities, the P-8I has been used in disaster relief and humanitarian operations.

Boeing assists India’s increasing P-8I fleet by providing flight crew training, spare parts, ground support equipment, and field-service representative support. Boeing’s comprehensive logistics assistance has enabled the fleet to maintain a high level of readiness at the lowest possible cost.

Boeing is completing construction on the Training Support & Data Handling (TSDH) Centre 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 indigenous, ground-based training will allow the Indian Navy crew to increase mission proficiency in a shorter time, while reducing the on-aircraft training time resulting in increased aircraft availability for mission tasking.

Check out Naval Library App to find out more about the specifications of the P-8 Poseidon MPAs.