India's first 737-based P-8I nears flight debut

[ganimi kawa]

India's first 737-based P-8I nears flight debut


Boeing is close to conducting the first flight of a 737-800-based P-8I maritime patrol aircraft for the Indian navy, with its first example having emerged at the manufacturer’s Renton Field assembly site in Washington

Derived from the P-8A Poseidon now in development testing for the US Navy, India’s next-generation maritime surveillance aircraft will enter use from early 2013.
India’s examples will differ from the USN’s aircraft through the addition of a belly-mounted radar, which once combined with other sensors will afford the aircraft a 360° surveillance capability against airborne targets.
Another key piece of equipment for the P-8I will be its Raytheon Mk54 lightweight torpedoes. New Delhi signed an $86 million deal in June for an initial 32 of the weapons.
Boeing performed the first flight of a production P-8A for the USN from Renton Field in July. India is the first and so for lone export buyer for the 737 derivative. Test and acceptance activities will be performed from Boeing’s Seattle Field site in Washington.

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

Sir,what does the ARK word painted on the Vert-stabilizer mean??

 

[ganimi kawa]

Sir,what does the ARK word painted on the Vert-stabilizer mean??

I presume it stands for " Arakkonam".

INS Rajali

INS Rajali, also informally known as Arakkonam Naval Air Station, is an Indian naval air station located near Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu in southern India.


The P8i is expected to be based here!

 

[Veeru]

Yes baby yes we are waiting...........

 

[praful]

Come to daddy !!!

 

[illuminatidinesh]

Arakkonam the same font written on TU.......

Sir,what does the ARK word painted on the Vert-stabilizer mean??

 

[SQ8]

Why the black nose??
It sorta ruins the otherwise great look.

 

[Abingdonboy]

I presume it stands for " Arakkonam".

INS Rajali

INS Rajali, also informally known as Arakkonam Naval Air Station, is an Indian naval air station located near Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu in southern India.


The P8i is expected to be based here!

Thanks I've always wondered but I thought first P-8I were to be based in ENC.



+ as mor eand more merges it seems the P-8I is going to be MORE advanced than the P-8A- the battle field radar and MAD (both NOT on P-8A). Would make sense I suppose given USN order for MUCH MORE so trying to keep costs down whilst IN buying a relitvley smaller fleet can have them "fully tricked out"- $230+ million each.

---------- Post added at 05:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:27 PM ----------

Why the black nose??
It sorta ruins the otherwise great look.

I'm with you, in all the renderings before the black nose was not present. An IN request but god knows why.

 

[DelhiDareDevil]

Looks like a normal passenger plane you see at a airport.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Looks like a normal passenger plane you see at a airport.

Sure it's based on a 737 but if you look closely you can see the subtl differences. And the fact that the bomb bay and EO/FLIR are all internally housed means ON THE SURFACE it looks relatively unchanged but thats were the similarities end- underestimate this beast at your peril.

 

[SQ8]

Sure it's based on a 737 but if you look closely you can see the subtl differences. And the fact that the bomb bay and EO/FLIR are all internally housed means ON THE SURFACE it looks relatively unchanged but thats were the similarities end- underestimate this beast at your peril.

Also.. the vertical tail is larger than on the normal 737-800

 

[Kinetic]

Why the black nose??
It sorta ruins the otherwise great look.

It is radome for the APY-10 multi-mission radar. Indian Navy sought to have a maritime multi-mission radar on board P-8I.

I think this new radar was required for true MMR capabilities.

The AN/APY-10 is a multifunction radar developed by the United States of America.

The AN/APY-10 is a development of the AN/APS-137 radar.[1] In comparison to that line it is of reduced size and weight and consumes less power. The radar is optimized for maritime, littoral and overland surveillance.[2] It is able to provide high resolution radar images in both overland and water modes. Available modes include color weather, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR), periscope detection, and navigation. ISAR mode is said to be capable of both detecting, imaging and classifying surface targets at long range using a variety of resolutions.[3]

The AN/APY-10 will outfit the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/APY-10

Also.. the vertical tail is larger than on the normal 737-800

Yes but little.

 

[SQ8]

But the one for USN has it too, yet has a normal grey nose.

 

[Abingdonboy]

It is radome for the APY-10 multi-mission radar. Indian Navy sought to have a maritime multi-mission radar on board P-8I.

I think this new radar was required for true MMR capabilities.

The AN/APY-10 is a multifunction radar developed by the United States of America.

The AN/APY-10 is a development of the AN/APS-137 radar.[1] In comparison to that line it is of reduced size and weight and consumes less power. The radar is optimized for maritime, littoral and overland surveillance.[2] It is able to provide high resolution radar images in both overland and water modes. Available modes include color weather, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR), periscope detection, and navigation. ISAR mode is said to be capable of both detecting, imaging and classifying surface targets at long range using a variety of resolutions.[3]

The AN/APY-10 will outfit the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft.[4]

AN/APY-10 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Yes but little.

But the one for USN has it too, yet has a normal grey nose.

It's got nothing to do with radar- it's purely aesthetics, some reason the IN has specifically asked for this.

 

[Kinetic]

But the one for USN has it too, yet has a normal grey nose.

So far it does not. Those have normal nose color, does not have the radar fitted. It is optional.

It's got nothing to do with radar- it's purely aesthetics, some reason the IN has specifically asked for this.

Are you sure?