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India Defence Online, New Delhi – The Indian Navy’s $2.1 billion acquisition deal for eight P-8I Posiedon to be supplied by the US aerospace giant Boeing is gaining substantial momentum as Boeing has confirmed the structural integrity of the airframe of P-8A Poseidon. The deal was finalised in 2009 and India is the first international customer to acquire eight P-8I long-range maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft, a variant of the P-8A Poseidon.
The P-8A Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft is being built in the US for the US Navy and last week, Boeing completed full-scale static testing of its airframe. According to Boeing, the structure had performed satisfactorily and efficiently increased the P-8A Posiedon’s flight-test envelope.
The P-8A Poseidon programme’s full-scale static ground test vehicle called S1 had undergone over 150 tests wherein the vehicle endured loads equal to or greater than those expected to occur during operational flights. The various tests were successful and led to no failure of the primary structure. Later this year, the Boeing P-8A team will initiate live-fire testing and also carry out fatigue tests on its second ground-test vehicle, S2. The initial operational capability is planned for 2013. Boeing plans to deliver the first of eight P-8I aircraft to India by early 2013.
On the other hand, Boeing has withdrawn from the midair tanker competition floated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in September 2010. According to sources, Boeing had to withdraw as the last date for complying with the tender bid was January 12. Although Boeing has a new generation 767 under development, it will not be operational until it gets the US Air Force (USAF) order for 179 aircraft. It has been learnt that if the USAF accepted the Boeing 767 tanker and the IAF extended the date for the competition, Boeing could be back in the fray for the mid-air refuellers.
It may be noted that the Airbus 330 Multi Role Tanker Transport had won the competition earlier but due to its steep price of $1.5 billion, re-tendering was ordered. As of now, the European Airbus A330 MRTT and the Russian IL 78 are the only contenders left for the supply of six-midair refuellers for the IAF. The IAF’s tanker aircraft expansion programme is already behind schedule by three years and the cancellation last year delayed it further.
Indian defence news and strategic intelligence
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