First P-8I Lands At Home Base Arakkonam Today

[IND151]

Big day for the Indian Navy and Boeing! The first of eight P-8Is (Tail No. IN 320) will land shortly before noon today at the INS Rajali naval air station in Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu (the 'ARK' on the aircraft's tail denotes the place). The second and third aircraft will be delivered in August and November this year, with the final five to arrive across 2014-15. The aircraft is the first that was delivered to the Indian Navy (in Seattle on December 20 last year) and is being flown by a full IN crew.

Had a chance to get up close with the 2nd aircraft in July last during a visit to Boeing's checkout facility in Seattle. And here's a quick refresher on the P-8I's onboard systems.





Livefist: First P-8I Lands At Home Base Arakkonam Today

 

[Parul]

Mate, Already Posted...

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

how many will be present in Arakonam?

 

[IND151]

^^ the article doesn't mention that

 

[dbc]

INS Rajali naval air station in Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu (the 'ARK' on the aircraft's tail denotes the place).

Why is this done?

 

[soumya1989]

another teeth added to Indian Navy

 

[anant_s]

how many will be present in Arakonam?

I suppose entire fleet of first 8 birds will be homed at Arrakkonam.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Why is this done?

Of all people I wouldn't have thought you'd not understand after all USAF fighter and transports display similar tail writing.

I suppose entire fleet of first 8 birds will be homed at Arrakkonam.

Not at all, the first 8 and all follow one orders will be shared amongst the 3 naval commands and in the future ANC.

 

[dbc]

Of all people I wouldn't have thought you'd not understand after all USAF fighter and transports display similar tail writing.

So...you do it cause we do it?

 

[Abingdonboy]

So...you do it cause we do it?

No, like I said- for the same REASONS ie to be able to identify the home base of the a/c.

 

[selvan33]

how many will be present in Arakonam?

This entire first batch(8 aircrafts).

 

[shree835]

 

[kaykay]

https://mobile.twitter.com/saurabhjoshi/status/334587141902458881/photo/1

 

[shree835]

Indian Navy Statement: Indian Naval Aviation received a major fillip with the arrival of the first of eight Boeing P-8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance and Anti Submarine Warfare aircraft at Naval Air Station Rajali, Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu today, 15 may 13. Vice Admiral Bimal Verma, AVSM, Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command presided over the event that was attended by Commodore Puneet Bahl, Commanding Officer, INS Rajali, representatives from the Command and Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of defence (Navy) as well.

The P-8I aircraft, based on the Boeing 737-800(NG) airframe, is the Indian Naval variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing has developed for the US Navy. The aircraft is equipped with both foreign as well as indigenous sensors for Maritime Reconnaissance, Anti Submarine operations and for Electronic Intelligence missions. The aircraft is fully integrated with state of the art sensors and highly potent Anti Surface and Anti Submarine weapons.

These LRMR/ ASW aircraft have been procured under the contract signed in 2009. The IN is in process of acquiring an additional four P-8I aircraft under the option clause. The induction of the P-8I aircraft into the Indian Navy would greatly enhance India's maritime surveillance capability in the Indian Ocean Region.

http://livefist.blogspot.in/2013/05/first-photos-first-boeing-p-8i-joins.html

 

[dbc]

No, like I said- for the same REASONS ie to be able to identify the home base of the a/c.

The two letter code is used by the Air National Guard to identify the base and its not used across USAF. USAF Wings such as the fighting first and Wolf Pack, wings with a glorious past have their own two letter designation. Wolf Pack is WP and Fighting First is FF, these tail codes go back to World War II or earlier. The purpose was easy identification of the aircraft from wreckage since the tail often survived the crash. Of course the USAAF had thousands of aircraft in theatre (WWII) so the need for easy identification makes sense. In the case of the the Indian Navy with just eight P8-I's all belonging to the same base the easy identification of wreckage line of thought does not explain the rationale for having the base code marked on the tail. So I repeat my question, why does the Indian Navy need to paint the base code on the tail of the P-8I?