Defence

Recently, the Biden Administration has notified the Congress of itsdetermination to sell six P-8I patrol aircraft to India for an estimated cost of USD 2.42billion.

·        The Indian Navy had procured eight P-8I aircraft from Boeing in January 2009 viadirect commercial sale and contracted for an additional four aircraft in July 2016.

·        The first P-8I aircraft were delivered to the Indian Navy in 2013, providing criticalcapabilities to coalition maritime operations.

P-8I Patrol Aircraft

·        It is a long-range, multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft offered by Boeing for theIndian Navy.

·        It replaced the ageing fleet of the Indian Navy’s Tupolev Tu-142 aircraft.

·        The P-8I aircraft is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon multi-mission maritime aircraft(MMA) operated by the US Navy.

·        The aircraft is equipped with a CAE AN/ASQ-508A magnetic anomaly detection(MAD) system, APS-143C (V) 3 multimode radar and a global version of theRaytheon APY-10 surveillance radar.

·        The APY-10 radar provides precise information in all-weather, day and nightmissions.

·        The P-8I aircraft can fly at a maximum speed of 789km/h and can reach a maximumaltitude of 12,496m.