<p>India today signed an over USD 1 billion deal with American defence and aerospace major Boeing for procuring four additional 'Poseidon-8I' long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The contract is a follow-on order to eight P-81 planes already bought by India in a direct deal with the firm worth USD 2.1 billion, defence sources said.<br /><br />The contract was inked during the ongoing visit of US Under Secretary for Defence on Acquisition Frank Kendall, and is seen as a sign of growing Indo-US defence ties, they said.<br /><br />India had last year signed a USD 3 billion contract with the US through Foreign Military Sales route for 22 Apache and 15 Chinook helicopters.<br /><br />With today's deal, the total value of defence deals signed with the US in the last one decade comes to around USD 15 billion.<br /><br />India is also working on a deal to get 145 pieces of M777 light-weight howitzers from the US, the sources said.<br /><br />The acquisition of additional 'P-8I' will be a shot in the arm of the Indian Navy as the country has been building up its naval surveillance capabilities.<br /><br />Armed with deadly Harpoon missiles, lightweight torpedoes, rockets among others, the Navy is extensively using the P-8I to keep a strict vigil over the Indian Ocean, which has seen numerous Chinese submarine forays, including docking of a nuclear sub in Sri Lanka.<br /><br />The Navy will also be able to drop and monitor sonobuoys, being used in the search for the missing AN32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force, they said.<br /><br />Incidentally, India was 'P-8''s first international customer and was also Boeing's first military sale to India.<br /><br />The P-8I fleet is based at the Naval Air Station Rajali in Tamil Nadu. The long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft has an operational speed of 450 miles per hour and a range of 4,500 nautical miles.<br /><br />The planes will provide strategic blue water and littoral undersea warfare capabilities as well as armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to the navy, the defence sources added.<br /><br />Based on Boeing's Next-Generation 737 commercial airplane, P-8I is the Indian Navy variant of the P-8A Poseidon that the American defence has developed for the US Navy. <br /> </p>
<p>India today signed an over USD 1 billion deal with American defence and aerospace major Boeing for procuring four additional 'Poseidon-8I' long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The contract is a follow-on order to eight P-81 planes already bought by India in a direct deal with the firm worth USD 2.1 billion, defence sources said.<br /><br />The contract was inked during the ongoing visit of US Under Secretary for Defence on Acquisition Frank Kendall, and is seen as a sign of growing Indo-US defence ties, they said.<br /><br />India had last year signed a USD 3 billion contract with the US through Foreign Military Sales route for 22 Apache and 15 Chinook helicopters.<br /><br />With today's deal, the total value of defence deals signed with the US in the last one decade comes to around USD 15 billion.<br /><br />India is also working on a deal to get 145 pieces of M777 light-weight howitzers from the US, the sources said.<br /><br />The acquisition of additional 'P-8I' will be a shot in the arm of the Indian Navy as the country has been building up its naval surveillance capabilities.<br /><br />Armed with deadly Harpoon missiles, lightweight torpedoes, rockets among others, the Navy is extensively using the P-8I to keep a strict vigil over the Indian Ocean, which has seen numerous Chinese submarine forays, including docking of a nuclear sub in Sri Lanka.<br /><br />The Navy will also be able to drop and monitor sonobuoys, being used in the search for the missing AN32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force, they said.<br /><br />Incidentally, India was 'P-8''s first international customer and was also Boeing's first military sale to India.<br /><br />The P-8I fleet is based at the Naval Air Station Rajali in Tamil Nadu. The long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft has an operational speed of 450 miles per hour and a range of 4,500 nautical miles.<br /><br />The planes will provide strategic blue water and littoral undersea warfare capabilities as well as armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to the navy, the defence sources added.<br /><br />Based on Boeing's Next-Generation 737 commercial airplane, P-8I is the Indian Navy variant of the P-8A Poseidon that the American defence has developed for the US Navy. <br /> </p>