India Get’s Its Ninth Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft

The Indian Navy today received its ninth P8-I long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft from Boeing.

The aircraft, first of the second batch of four P8-I bought by India, arrived in Goa from Seattle in the US after stops at Hawaii, Guam and Brunei.

Eight of these aircraft, which were ordered in the first batch, have already been delivered and are in service with the Indian Navy.

The Indian Navy is the largest foreign customer of the P8 platform. While eight have already been indicted into service, four (one arrived today) are on order and six more are being procured. The Navy, reports say, plans to have a total of 22 of these aircraft in the next few years to keep an eye on Chinese movements in the Indian Ocean Region, most importantly its submarines.