Indian Navy Receives the Delivery of Tenth P-8I

Boeing delivered to the Indian Navy its tenth P-8I aircraft. The patrol aircraft is an integral part of the Indian Navy’s fleet and has surpassed 30,000 flight hours since it was inducted in 2013. The induction of these aircraft will help maritime the Navy bolster its reconnaissance anti-submarine warfare capabilities.

Tenth P-8I is the second of four additional aircraft under the options contract signed by the Ministry of Defence in 2016. The Indian Navy was the first international customer for the P-8 and today operates the largest non-US fleet. The P-8 is also operated by the U.S. Navy, Royal Australian Air Force and the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force.

In addition to unmatched maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities, the P-8I have been deployed to assist during disaster relief and humanitarian missions.

Boeing supports India’s growing P-8I fleet by providing training of Indian Navy flight crews, spare parts, ground support equipment and field service representative support. Boeing’s integrated logistics support has enabled a high state of fleet readiness at the lowest possible cost.

Boeing is currently completing construction on the Training Support & Data Handling Centre at INS Rajali, Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu and a secondary maintenance training centre at Naval Institute of Aeronautical Technology, Kochi, Kerala as part of a training and support package contract signed in 2019. This new indigenous, ground-based training will allow Indian Navy crew to increase mission proficiency in a shorter time, while reducing on-aircraft training time resulting in increased aircraft availability.