Maritime Patrol Aircraft : P-8I Neptune, Dornier-228 : News & Discussions


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Where did the P-8I land in Seychelles ? Assumption Island ?
 
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Defence ministry pact with US to procure MK 54 torpedo, expendables worth Rs 423 crore

By PTI
Last Updated: Oct 22, 2021, 07:41 PM IST

Synopsis
"The Ministry of Defence signed a contract with the US government under #ForeignMilitarySale (FMS) for procurement of MK 54 Torpedo and Expendable (Chaff and Flares) for the Indian Navy at a cost of Rs 423 crore," defence ministry's spokesperson said on Twitter.

The defence ministry has signed a contract with the US government to procure MK 54 torpedo and expendables such as chaff and flares for the Indian Navy's anti-submarine warfare aircraft P-8I at a cost of Rs 423 crore, its spokesperson said on Friday. The Indian Navy has a total of 11 P-8I aircraft, which are manufactured by US aerospace company Boeing, in its fleet.

In addition to anti-submarine warfare capabilities, the P-8I aircraft is known for its advance maritime reconnaissance capabilities.

"The Ministry of Defence signed a contract with the US government under #ForeignMilitarySale (FMS) for procurement of MK 54 Torpedo and Expendable (Chaff and Flares) for the Indian Navy at a cost of Rs 423 crore," defence ministry's spokesperson said on Twitter.

"These weapons are the outfit of P-8I aircraft," the spokesperson added.

Defence ministry pact with US to procure MK 54 torpedo, expendables worth Rs 423 crore
 
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P8I long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft start operations from the Goa's naval airbase INS Hansa. On arrival, the P8I was escorted by MiG-29K fighters. The 2nd batch of 4 Indian Navy P8Is will be based at Goa

 
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P8I long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft start operations from the Goa's naval airbase INS Hansa. On arrival, the P8I was escorted by MiG-29K fighters. The 2nd batch of 4 Indian Navy P8Is will be based at Goa

Intersting thing is unlike in ARK, where P8I started in the same squadron as Tu142MK, and later replaced them, at DAB the P8I has been given a new Squadron 316. 315 operates the Il38. Seems IN sees 315 operating upto atleast late this decade.
 
@randomradio + others

There is news that govt is scrapping procurement of 6 additional p8I for atma nirbhar reasons.

Does India have capability to design & built those complex systems?

It's a surprising decision. DRDO is working on maritime surveillance technologies. But it's unclear if they have reached a point where the P-8I can be replaced this quickly. The assumption was it will happen after 6 more are ordered. The US had also cleared the sale last year.

At this time, DRDO is working on a C-295 based MPA called MMMA. And the technologies will be tested on an Airbus A319. At the very least, they have radar and EO/IR technologies for this role. So I guess once it's tested on the A319, they can scale it if necessary.

Anyway, the navy is also making changes to their fleet. They want more unmanned surveillance than manned. This goes back to what I was saying about manned ISR becoming irrelevant. Too expensive, too risky and less endurance. So we may want more Sea Guardian drones, perhaps even the Triton. I'm more inclined to believe this to be the case. Each Triton costs more than $200M.
 
It's a surprising decision. DRDO is working on maritime surveillance technologies. But it's unclear if they have reached a point where the P-8I can be replaced this quickly. The assumption was it will happen after 6 more are ordered. The US had also cleared the sale last year.

At this time, DRDO is working on a C-295 based MPA called MMMA. And the technologies will be tested on an Airbus A319. At the very least, they have radar and EO/IR technologies for this role. So I guess once it's tested on the A319, they can scale it if necessary.

Anyway, the navy is also making changes to their fleet. They want more unmanned surveillance than manned. This goes back to what I was saying about manned ISR becoming irrelevant. Too expensive, too risky and less endurance. So we may want more Sea Guardian drones, perhaps even the Triton. I'm more inclined to believe this to be the case. Each Triton costs more than $200M.
I personally feels a fleet of 6 P-8I should start patroling from A&N, necessary infra should set up there. P-8I operating from AN can have far more reach over chinese navy, also inter operability with USN in region also ensured. Imagine P-8I armed with AGM 158 is patroling the regin, and how much psychological & tactical advantages will be having on china.
@vstol Jockey
 
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I think what comes out of the entire ban list issued by the MoD is quite clearly some sort of an agreement reached with both the IAF & IN .

Looks like the IAC-2 ( with reduced capacity ) & the MRCBF program ( also reduced requirements ) has been green lit with the MMPA in reduced capacity substituting for the P-8i whereas the scrapping of the additional 21 MiG-29s signals something in pipeline for additional procurement of Rafales. It could well be combined procurement by both IAF + IN .

What this signifies in terms of reputation given frequent flip flops in decision making by the Indian establishment on critical requirements by foreign governments & OEMs is a different matter altogether but worth pondering on.
 
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I think we bought necessary numbers for bare minimum requirements already.
They may have adequate time to get indigenous equivalent.
This was clear for a number of years , 2022 notwithstanding . Look the the NMRH acquisition. Out of 120 plus , we've acquired 24 Romeos with the rest being developed vide the IMRH program in India . That still doesn't rule out emergency procurements if some urgency arises but by & large the bulk of the requirements will be catered to by indigenous alternatives.


While what we develop inhouse may not be state of the art as compared to it's western counterparts if the difference is not too large , future iterations can cater to bridging the technological gap & the requirement itself is not critical with no desi alternatives , the same formula can be expected to be applied across the board for the next 2 decades.

2022 is truly happening just not as we were expecting it to or informed on how it would pan out .
 
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