Indian Ocean on Navy’s new P-8I radar

[thestringshredder]

The maiden P-8I aircraft which will help Indian Navy in long-range maritime survey and anti submarine warfare landed at INS Rajali, Arakkonam Naval Air station on Wednesday.

This is first of eight planes procured from the US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing. It is expe*cted to replace Russian TU 142s, which had over done its service in the Indian Ocean. “The Indian Navy’s aviation wing has received a big fillip with induction of this aircraft. We expect other seven planes to join our fleet in the next two years. We also hope that we will add four more P-8I aircraft to our regiment,” said Vice Admiral Bimal Kumar Verma, Chief of Staff (Eastern Naval Command).

The Eastern command chief added that P-8Is would replace age-old TU 142s, which had served the Indian Navy for the last two decades. “As part of our Navy’s modernisation efforts we will phase out TU 142s soon and replace them with P-8Is,” he noted. “The aircraft is fully integrated with state-of-the-art sensors and has highly potent anti-surface and anti-submarine weapons including torpedo and missiles,” he further added.

Listing its advantages, Vice-Admiral Verma said the aircraft could even be operated from civilian airports, as its ground equipment were common to other aircraft. “It can land and take off from commercial airports, which actually increases its potential to man the whole of Indian Ocean region,” he added.

It may be noted that the Arakkonam airstrip was built to 4.1 km mainly to suit the TU 142s requirements. “The TU 142s can fly non-stop to Gulf and comeback without refueling, but it is very difficult to land it on smaller runways,” said a senior navy officer. However, he added that the TU 142s have become obsolete since it belongs to olden type of warfare.

“There are lot of innovations in P-8I aircraft. The whole area from East Coast of Africa to the Malacca Strait can be kept under surveillance by a combination of P-8I planes coming in from the US,” the Navy official said, adding that these aircraft would act as an extended eye of the Naval forces in the Indian Ocean.

Noting that P-8I has an endurance level of about 9 to 10 hours, the Navy official said that its radar can see over 100 miles and can communicate the data to the nearest forces to put up with the enemy present in that area.

The P-8I is actually the Indian naval variant of the P-8A Poseidon developed by Boeing for the US Navy. “India is the first foreign country to order this aircraft,” said a Boeing official, who added that the plane designed for long-range maritime reconnaissance, also have the capabilities for mid-air fuelling.

When asked about this US aircraft’s suitability to Indian conditions, the Boeing official, who was struggling to beat the Arakkonam heat, told this newspaper that the plane will apt any climatic conditions, as its airframe comes from the commercial aircraft 737-800, which is used across the globe.

Link - Indian Ocean on Navy