On September 23, 2018, as competitive sailor and Indian Navy commander Abhilash Tomy lay badly injured in his battered boat, it was an Indian Navy Poseidon 8I (P8I) that spotted him in the wide blue ocean.
From specific counter-insurgency operations to being deployed during the ongoing faceoff with China or to keep an eye on submarines of the adversary in the oceans, it is the Indian Navy’s P8i that is the first responder platform that everyone turns to.
Having completed ten years of deployment with the Indian Navy, the versatile maritime surveillance aircraft—totaling 12—has already clocked more than 40,000 mishap-free flight hours.
With the Navy’s requirement for more, it is Boeing—the maker of the P8i—that is making a strong pitch to offer more.
But the top icing in the offering is really the US aircraft maker’s effort to make the aircraft’s manufacturing align with the Indian government’s ‘atmanirbharta’ (self reliance) thrust.
On Thursday, Salil Gupte, president of Boeing India, said: “Boeing's commitment to advancing the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ vision drives our dedication to the P-8I fleet. As we respond to the Indian Navy's need for more P-8I aircraft, we're actively looking to enhance engineering, manufacturing, and sustainment capabilities in India, for India, and the world, benefiting both Indian and global customers.”
“Boeing has already generated a substantial economic impact, amounting to $1.7 billion to support the current P-8I aircraft fleet in service with the Indian Navy. Furthermore, Boeing envisions that increasing the P-8I fleet to 18 aircraft will increase investments, approximately $1.5 billion, while creating further indigenization opportunities within India's aerospace and defense sector by 2032,” a Boeing release said.
More than 160 P-8 aircraft are in service across the globe that has together accumulated more than 500,000 flight hours. Besides India and the US, P8s are operating in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, and Germany.
Currently employing about 5,000 people in India while more than 13,000 people work with its supply chain partners, annual sourcing from India stands at over $1 billion.
