NEW DELHI – The Indian Navy is considering the acquisition of more BoeingP-8I aircraft for surveillance and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), accordingto Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba.

In an interview to the magazine ‘India Strategic’, Admiral Lanba said thatair surveillance capability is an important subset of naval operations andthat while the proposal was on the table, he could not disclose therequired numbers.

His predecessors have spoken of a requirement of 30 Long-Range MaritimeReconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft, under which the navy has already inductedeight aircraft and placed an order for four more.

Because of the overall tardy process of routine modernisation of the armedforces over the last 30 years, the Indian Navy has not been able to renewits inventory of submarines but the acquisition of the P-8I (I stands forIndia) has given it a very strong offensive capability to detect and hunthostile submarines.

In fact, in terms of contemporary weapon technologies, the P-8I, oftenreferred to as the “submarine killer”, is perhaps the most advanced systemthat any of the three Indian services have acquired in recent years. Theaircraft was deployed in 2013 by the Indian Navy around the same time theUS Navy did.

The Defence Ministry has officially stated that the P-8I is “capable ofthrusting a punitive response and maintaining a watch over India’simmediate and extended areas of interest”.

Asked about the growing number of hostile submarines in the Indian Ocean,nearer home in fact, Admiral Lanba said: “As a professional military force,we constantly evaluate the maritime security environment in our areas ofinterest. We lay a lot of stress on Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA).Accordingly, we are fully seized of the presence and likely intentions ofall extra-regional forces operating in the Indian Ocean. Our Navy is fullycapable and ever ready to meet any challenges that may arise in themaritime domain.”

Significantly, the agreement for the P-8Is was signed on January 1, 2009,within a couple of months of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks which exposedthe vulnerability of the country’s maritime defences. The attack, in fact,triggered the government to clear quite a few proposals for the armedforces as well as to review what should be done to ensure security ofIndian waters, particularly the coastal belts on the country’s eastern andwestern seaboards.

The Navy is now the nodal agency for coordinating surveillance throughsatellites and aircraft and a network of police and small boats has alsobeen integrated into the system.

The Navy and the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) also operate a number of HAL-madeDornier 228 aircraft, while some proposals for more LRMR and Medium-RangeMaritime Reconnaissance (MRMR) have been on the table for the last fewyears.

Observed Admiral Lanba: “Every endeavour is being made to collectivelyensure that our maritime security, of which coastal security is animportant subset, is adequately strengthened.”

“A number of measures have been taken since 26/11 to strengthen maritime,coastal and offshore security by the concerned agencies in the country.These measures broadly include increasing capacity and capabilities ofmaritime security forces, enhanced surveillance and domain awareness of themaritime zones, increased regulation of maritime activities, streamliningintelligence-sharing between different agencies and strengthening overallmaritime governance. There have been significant improvements in theoperational response to developing situations at and from the seas,” headded.

At the national level, coordination of coastal security-related activitiesis being carried out by the National Committee for Strengthening Coastaland Maritime Security (NCSCMS).

The Navy had ordered eight P-8I aircraft in 2009 for $2.1 billion alongwith a training package. Weapons and torpedoes were extra as needed, andthen, under the Options Clause, four more aircraft were ordered in August2016.

The standard delivery schedule begins within three years of signing acontract and making the first payment. Boeing has said that it deliveredthe first lot of eight aircraft “on time, on cost” and helped set up theirbase at the INS Rajali Naval Air Station at Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu.

Boeing had been awarded a three-year contract in June last year forengineering and logistics support for the P-8I fleet. In January 2018, theNavy has been given approximately Rs 2,000 crore (almost $315 million) fora Training Solution along with a 10-year package for comprehensivemaintenance service.

The training facility at INS Rajali will be the third of its kind afterthose in the US and Australia, and will train pilots, observers andordnance and technical personnel. Spread over 60,000 sq ft, the facilitywould be completed by 2021.

A Training Simulator to be set up at the Naval Institute of AeronauticalTechnology (NIAT), Kochi, for ab-initio training of the technical personnelis part of the package.

Pratyush Kumar, Boeing’s India President and Vice President International,had observed after signing the three-year contract last year: “Our teamremains focused on executing our commitments to customers on schedule andcost. With this contract, the Indian Navy can be assured of achievingexceptional operational capability and readiness of the P-8I fleet.”

Boeing’s earlier contract was due to expire in October 2017.

The Indian variant has certain Indian components, including communicationsoftware and IFF (Identify Friend or Foe), to align with Indian naval andAir Force aircraft and net-centric systems.

It has 360-degree radar view, thanks to Raytheon’s AN/APY-40 forwardlooking radar’s 240-degree coverage and the rest from Telefonicsaft-looking radar.

Built on the Boeing 737 frame, the P8-I is capable of detecting anddestroying hostile submarines deep under the water. It has 11 hard pointsfor carrying Harpoon anti-shipping missiles and depth charges, and fivestations in the weapons bay for Raytheon-supplied Mk-54 torpedoes. Two hardpoints upfront are for Search and Rescue equipment.

There are five operator stations, and windows for outside views. All thesystems are integrated with the onboard Mission Computer and Display Systemfor control and data distribution in high speeds with ultra-highresolution. The APY 10 radar is developed keeping in mind not just the landbut waters of the vast oceans as well, be it day or night. It is capable oftracking even small vessels in littoral and high seas environments.

The Indian variant also has the Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) whichmeasures minute variations and disturbances in the earth’s magnetic fieldcaused by the underwater movement of steel-encased submarines.

India has already acquired a number of Harpoon Block II missiles for useboth by the Navy and IAF, which also conducts maritime patrols. – Agencies