On Tuesday (March 29, 2022) Indian Navy’s second P-8I aircraft squadron will be commissioned at INS Hansa, Goa.
According to the Indian Navy the “Indian Naval Air Squadron 316 will be commissioned in the presence of Chief of Indian Navy Admiral R Hari Kumar.”
INAS 316
This squadron has been christened ‘The Condors’, which is one of the largest flying birds in the world. And the insignia depicts a Condor searching over the blue expanse of the sea.
This squadron will be operating the P-81 multi-role long range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare (LRMR ASW) aircraft, from the US based Boeing Company. This aircraft is powered by twin jet engines and has the capacity to be equipped with air-to-ship missiles and torpedoes.
The second batch of four additional aircraft which have been acquired to help the navy to detect, destroy, and deter any threat to the country in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) will be operating from here.
Now, the Indian Navy has two squadrons of P-8I – the first batch of 8 aircraft were acquired in 2013 which has completed more than 30,000 flight hours and are now stationed at INS Rajali, Arakkonam.
The aircraft which are joining the INAS 316 are part of the four additional aircraft contract which the Ministry of Defence had awarded in 2016.
This aircraft, as has already been reported in Financial Express Online, is operated by all the QUAD countries, the member countries of AUKUS operating P-8 variant.
Importance of this aircraft for the Indian Navy
Indian Navy’s Maritime Reconnaissance Capabilities got a big boost when this aircraft joined the fleet. India was the first international customer for the P-8 and is currently operating the largest fleet outside the US. This aircraft has added more power to the capabilities of the Indian Navy to deal with the emerging threats in the IOR and with growing Chinese presence.