BOEING : Committed Partner with the Indian Navy
The Indian Navy has been spearheading the nation’s increasing strategic and geopolitical responsibility in the Indian Ocean region and Naval aviation plays a crucial role maintaining India’s dominance in the region. “Mission ready and capable”, Indian Navy’s aircraft carry out the entire mission spectrum at sea, ranging from countering piracy and asymmetrical warfare, to neutralising maritime terrorism.
The P-8(I)
Since induction of the P-8(I) by the Indian Navy, Boeing has been supporting the fleet to ensure high rates of mission readiness. With eight P- 8( I) s presently active and another four to be delivered from 2020, the Indian Navy is rapidly increasing its capability to seal and protect its 7,000-km long coastline, while playing a greater role in regional maritime security.
Considered as the most potent antisubmarine warfare, armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft extant, not only can the P-8(I) “fly higher, farther and faster” than any other maritime patrol aircraft, it can also detect, track and report on more targets than ever before.
Through comprehensive maintenance support services, Boeing closely partners with the Indian Navy to ensure that the P-8(I) continues to provide its unmatched capabilities and mission readiness for any mission “anytime, anywhere”. Boeing has received a three-year contract for continued support to the Indian Navy’s P-8(I) fleet, a testament to the value that its services and training have delivered. This contract continues the support that Boeing provides under the programme’s current, initial production agreement as in addition to field and logistics services, also includes engineering, support and planning. The contract includes robust material support, including a Boeing 737-based component services programme, which will be executed in conjunction with Boeing Commercial Aviation Services’ Fleet Services division.
In January 2018, India’s Defense Acquisitions Committee cleared the acquisition of a P- 8( I) training system from Boeing, this customised for the Indian Navy which will offer an integrated learning approach that will combine classroom education with simulation. This ground-based training system for the P-8(I) will allow Indian naval crews to increase proficiency in shorter time, without using up finite fatigue life of the P-8(I), or putting the aircraft at any untoward risks during a training scenario.
A next level of partnership
With its F/A-18 Super Hornet, Boeing sees an opportunity to further strengthen its partnership with the Indian Navy. Having multi-role capabilities, advanced technologies and low acquisition and sustainment costs the F/A-18 Super Hornet is “clear choice for India”.
Capable of conducting STOBAR operations with a meaningful weapons and fuel load, the Super Hornet is fully compatible with the Indian Navy’s aircraft carriers. With its designed- in stealth, an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and many other advanced technologies that support unique mission
requirements of the naval aviator, the F/ A- 18 Super Hornet is arguably the most advanced aircraft of its kind in operation today and will provide immense operational benefits to the existing and future force structure of the Indian armed forces.
The F/ A- 18 Super Hornet was designed from the outset for carrier operations and remains the world’s preeminent carrier-capable aircraft. It is a combat-proven, supersonic, all weather multi-role fighter with a defined US Navy plan to neutralise threats well into the 2040s. Thus far, every Super Hornet has been delivered on cost and on schedule to the US Navy.
With its twin- engines, the Super Hornet provides a margin of safety that does not exist in a single-engined platform. Its buddy-refueling capabilities extend the time on station, range, and endurance as well. The Super Hornet also provides continuous and comprehensive air support with its (AESA) radar targeting data and reliable data links.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet not only has low acquisition price but also costs less per flight hour to operate than any other tactical aircraft in the US forces inventory. The Super Hornet needs far less maintenance, which translates into high mission availability and its ease of maintenance ( supportability) results in lower maintenance man-hours, per flight hour. Additionally, the Super Hornet does not require any scheduled depot-level maintenance while the engine does not require any scheduled maintenance between overhauls.
‘Make in India’
Boeing’s proposed ‘ Make in India’ plans for the Super Hornet are not just about transferring a production line, but for building an entirely new state- of- the- art production facility that can be utilised for other programmes, including the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).
Boeing is prepared to bring its global scale and supply chain, its bestin- industry precision manufacturing processes, as well as the company’s unrivaled experience in designing and optimising aerospace production facilities to both support India’s expanding aerospace ecosystem and help realise the ‘Make in India’ vision. Boeing’s unique approach addresses the infrastructure, personnel training, and operational tools and techniques required to produce a next gen fighter aircraft in India.
Boeing will closely work with India’s industry to ensure the very latest technologies, applying lessons learned from the current Super Hornet production line. The programme envisages transitioning airframe and subsystem manufacture to Indian industry in deliberate manner, representing an extraordinary opportunity for technology insertion and growth for India’s aerospace industry.