Indian Navy set to place orders for 6 more P-8I, needs 14 more
Navigating Dangerous Waters while talking about Dream Indian Navy talks of 4 x Squadrons of Long Range Maritime Recce aircrafts. With at least 8 x aircrafts in each Squadron, the Navy needs a total of 32 such aircrafts. Presently the Navy is operating 12 x P8I aircrafts from one base each in Eastern Naval Command and Western Naval Command.
Now Shri Rajnath Singh is set to bolster Navy’s maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities with the imminent procurement of six additional P-8I Neptune maritime patrol aircraft from Boeing. This acquisition is part of India’s ongoing efforts to expand its naval aviation fleet and enhance its operational reach across the Indian Ocean Region, which has seen increasing strategic competition and security challenges.
The P-8I Neptune is a long-range, multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft specifically developed for the Indian Navy as a variant of the Boeing P-8A Poseidon used by the United States Navy. It is equipped with advanced sensors, including the Raytheon AN/APY-10 multi-mission maritime radar, and is capable of performing a wide range of missions such as anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASuW), intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and search and rescue operations.
The aircraft can carry Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles and Mk 54 lightweight torpedoes, making it a formidable platform for both detection and neutralisation of maritime threats.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has already sent a Letter of Request (LoR) to the U.S. government for these six aircraft, estimated to cost around USD 1.8 billion, and the deal is expected to be finalised soon under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
These new aircraft will supplement the existing fleet of 12 P-8Is, eight of which were ordered in 2009 and delivered by 2015, with four more ordered in 2016 and delivered subsequently. The P-8I fleet has already proven its value in operational deployments, including participation in international search and rescue missions and successful live firings of advanced weaponry.
The P-8I features a maximum speed of 907 km/h, an operational range of over 1,200 nautical miles, and is manned by a crew of nine. Its state-of-the-art avionics, electronic warfare suites, and encrypted communications—enabled by the COMCASA agreement with the U.S.—allow for real-time intelligence sharing and interoperability with allied forces.
The induction of these additional aircraft is expected to further strengthen India’s maritime domain awareness and deterrence posture, replacing older platforms like the Tupolev Tu-142 and positioning the Indian Navy as the major power in Indian Ocean and Indo Pacific capable of responding effectively to a spectrum of maritime threats.
