India Close To Inking Deal For P-8I Aircraft With US
May 02, 2021
The State Department and Pentagon on Friday notified the US Congress about the impending deal for the six P-8I aircraft and related equipment to India.
India is now close to inking the $2.42 billion deal with the US for six more advanced P-8I submarine-hunting aircraft, which will take the total value of lucrative Indian defence contracts bagged by Washington in the last 15 years to around $25 billion.
The State Department and Pentagonon Friday notified the US Congress about the impending deal for the six P-8I aircraft and related equipment to India.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the US by helping to strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defence partner, which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia regions,” said the notification.
Indian Navy has already inducted nine of the 12 P-8I aircraft, which are packed with radars and armed with Harpoon Block-II missiles, MK-54 lightweight torpedoes, rockets and depth charges, contracted for $3.2 billion earlier. The rest three are slated for delivery by this year-end.
The Boeing-manufactured P-8Is are primarily meant for hunting and destroying enemy submarines in the Indian Ocean Region. But India has also been extensively using the P-8Is, with their advanced electro-optic sensors, to keep tabs on the movements and build-ups of the People’s Liberation Army along the land borders ever since the military confrontation with China erupted in eastern Ladakh in May last year.
Unlike the first 12 P-8Is, the six new aircraft to be acquired now will have more advanced systems as a result of India signing the COMCASA (Communications, Compatibility and Security Arrangement) pact with the US in September 2018, as was reported by TOI earlier.
With a maximum speed of 907 kmph and an operating range of 1,200 nautical miles “with four hours on station”, the P-8Is provide the reach and flexibility to undertake extensive maritime surveillance and intelligence-gathering missions.
The first eight P-8I aircraft inducted under a $2.1 billion deal inked in January 2009are deployed at INS Rajali in Arakkonam (Tamil Nadu) for the eastern seaboard. The next four, under the $1.1 billion contract signed in July 2016, are being based at INS Hansa in Goa for the western seaboard.
Since 2007, the US has notched up Indian defence deals worth over $21 billion, with latest ones for 24 MH-60 ‘Romeo’ multirole naval helicopters and six more Apache attack choppers for around $3 billion being inked in February last year.
With two leased MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones already being used for surveillance missions over the Indian Ocean since last November, India has also finalized its plan to buy 30 such `hunter-killer’ armed drones from the US for over $3 billion, as was first reported by TOI. But the high cost of the deal has delayed the inking of the final contract till now.
Courtesy: ET