The tenth Indian Navy P-8I | Photo: Boeing
The Indian Navy has taken delivery of it’s tenth P-8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft at INH Hansa at Dabolim, Goa.
According to a statement by the U.S. aviation company, the aircraft have ‘surpassed 30,000 flight hours’ since induction in 2013. The Indian Navy was the first international customer and first operator of the aircraft.
Boeing said in its statement, “This is the second aircraft to be delivered under an option contract for four additional aircraft that the Indian Ministry of Defence awarded 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.”
Boeing also said it 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,” said the company’s statement.
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