Fourth P-8I maritime patrol aircraft delivered to India

Washington: Boeing has delivered the fourth P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to India, which the aviation company described as a milestone.

In all India has placed orders for eight P-8I maritime aircraft. The latest state-of-the-art maritime patrol aircraft departed from Boeing Field in Seattle and arrived May 21 at Naval Air Station Rajali. "This marks an important milestone - the halfway-point for P-8I deliveries to India," Dennis Swanson, BDS vice president in India, Friday said. "The programme`s success in the past year is really a testament to the great work between Boeing, the Indian Navy and industry," he said in a release. Based on the company`s Next-Generation 737 commercial airplane, the P-8I is the Indian Navy variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing has developed for the US Navy. "The Indian Navy is putting the first three P-8Is through their paces operationally, and the P-8I delivered today (Friday) will begin flight trials in the coming months," Leland Wight, Boeing P-8I programme manager, said. The P-8I incorporates not only India-unique design features, but also India-built subsystems that are tailored to the country`s maritime patrol requirements, Boeing said. In order to efficiently design and build the P-8I and the P-8A, the Boeing-led team is using a first-in-industry, in-line production process that draws on its Next-Generation 737 production system, the statement said.