By Xinhua,
New Delhi : The Indian government has signed a 2.1-billion-U.S. dollar deal to buy eight Boeing P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft for its Navy, according to The Times of India on Monday.
The deal, the biggest-ever with the U.S., was actually signed on Jan. 1 by Indian defense ministry’s joint secretary and acquisitions manager (maritime systems) Preeti Sudan and Boeing integrated defense systems vice-president and country head Vivek Lall, the newspaper quoted sources as saying.
The P-8I, a variant of the P-8A Poseidon multi-mission maritime aircraft currently being developed for U.S. Navy, is a customized version for the Indian Navy, based on the hugely successful Boeing-737 commercial airliner.
With weapons like torpedoes, depth bombs and anti-ship missiles, the P-8I will be capable of anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare, giving the Indian Navy “maritime patrol edge”.
They will replace the eight aging and fuel-guzzling Russian Tupolev-142M turboprops currently being operated by Indian Navy, the newspaper added.
The report said India will get the first P-8I towards end-2012 or early-2013, with the other seven following in a phased manner by 2015-2016. The contract also provides an option for India to order four to eight more such planes.
In November 2006, the Indian Navy had expressed an interest in the aircraft as a replacement for its existing fleet of Il-38 aircraft that are nearing the end of their service life.