Article Posted on : - Mar 17, 2009

P-8 long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft. Boeing image

WASHINGTON, DC (BNS): The Obama administration has approved Boeing’s deal to sell eight P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to India, reports said. The $2.1 billion contract was finalised in January this year and was awaiting clearance from the new administration.

Washington has put a stamp of approval for the deal even as it was in the middle of a process of reviewing US arms sale to India.

The Obama administration has cleared a $2.1 billion sale to India of eight Boeing manufactured P-8I maritime patrol aircraft. The deal overtakes an earlier $1 billion Lockheed sale of six C-130J Super Hercules military transport planes to the Indian Air Force to become the largest US arms sale to India to date.

There was some concern about the future of the deal particularly when the Obama administration had barred General Electric from operationalising two gas turbine engines supplied to the Indian Navy to power Shivalik class stealth frigates.

Boeing was particularly keen that the P-8 deal does not get blocked as Indian Navy was one of its first customers. The long range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft, built on the 737 airframe, comes with latest state of the art equipment and avionics.

The Indian Navy has bought it to fulfill its long-range maritime surveillance need. The aircraft is also capable of anti-submarine warfare. First of the eight aircraft would be delivered within 48 months of the signing of the contract and the rest would follow by 2015.

According to the Boeing’s P-8I contract, the sale includes associated support equipment, spares, training and logistical support through June 2019. The State Department said direct arms-trade ‘offsets’ were expected to include engineering service, manufacturing and integrated logistics-support projects totaling $641.3 million.

Lockheed and Boeing, Pentagon’s major arms suppliers are vying to sell India 126 new multi-role fighters in a deal that could be worth more than $10 billion. The Boeing is offering its F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, while Lockheed is pitching its F-16. They are competing with warplanes built in Russia, France, Sweden and European consortium.

India’s demands about end-user pacts are creating problems for Boeing and Lockheed. India must have submitted DSP-83, for Boeing to clinch the deal.

The officials claim that the P-8 deal would further strengthen Indo-US military ties. The US has offered a whole range of aviation platforms to the Indian Armed Forces. The US had one of the biggest presence at the Indian air show organised in Bangalore recently where an entire range of US aircraft were on display. From combat jets like F-16s and F-18s to transport aircraft C-17, the US companies had brought all for the Indian users.