Article Posted on : - May 24, 2014

The fourth P-8I maritime patrol aircraft of India. A Boeing photo

WASHINGTON (PTI): 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 the Boeing Field in Seattle and arrived May 21 at the 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, 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 statement.

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 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.