Friday turned out to be a golden letter day in the geo-strategic history of the sub-continent with the Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikkar inducting eight long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft Boeing Poseidon-8 India (Boeing P-8I for short) into service. The simple, but elegant function held at Indian Naval Station Rajali at Arakkonam, 80 km from Chennai, turned out to be quite different from other events as Minister Parrikar flew into the Air Station in a Boeing P-8I aircraft from Port Blair in Andaman.
“The two-hour journey from Port Blair to Arakkonam and my interaction with the crew and navigators of this state-of-the-art aircraft convinced me that hereafter we can sleep at night much easier. We have the best surveillance aircraft and our borders have been secured against any kind of aggressors,” said Parrikkar.
The Defence Minister said the real East Coast of the country is the 1000-km-long and wide Andaman and Nicobar islands. “Andaman and Nicobar islands are precious to India. In addition to this, the world’s busiest and heaviest maritime trade is passing through these islands. I\We have to fortify and strengthen the surveillance capability from Andaman islands. Hece we will have a squadron of another four Boeing P-8I aircraft based in Port Blair,” he said.
later, speaking to journalists, Parrikkar said each P-8I aircraft cost `1500 crore. “These are all variants of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft with highly advanced surveillance systems. They have an endurance of 12 hours. This means that these aircraft could stay on the air for 12 hours without refuelling,” said the Minister.
Speaking about the capabilities of the aircraft and the reach of its eyes and ears, he said he had a fantastic experience while flying from Port Blair to Arakkonam. “Though the sky was cloudy, I could see the close up face of sailors in INS Sahyadri who greeted our aircraft with “Jai Hind” while we were flying at a height of 2000 meters. The electronic surveillance and monitoring instruments are capable of identifying friends, enemies and neutral objects stretching from Malacca Straits to the African coast,” said the Defence Minister.
The Defence Minister paid rich tributes to Captain Harjeet Singh Jhajji, the first squadron commander of the P-8I team who passed away recently. Admiral R K dhowan, chief of naval staff, said the P-8I with multi-role capabilities will keep the waters around India safe and secured. “The motto of these magnificent men and machines is Mission Assigned, Mission Accomplished. These aircraft are our ears and eyes in the sky,” said the admiral.
Captain D K Sharma, the spokesman of the Indian Navy, described the P-8I aircraft squadron as the Next Generation Force Multiplier Kind of aircraft. “We have command and superiority in the air, on the surface and under the surface. The Harpoon Missiles fitted to the aircraft are capable of knocking out any ships. The Sonar Buoys inside the aircraft can detect any submarines intruding into the Indian waters and destroy them then and there,” said Captain Sharma who described the Poseidon -8India aircraft as the gamechangers.
The surveillance aircraft, named The Skylions are operated by young pilots like Commander Amit Mohapatra who were trained in the special facility of the Boeing Company at Seattle in the USA. The interior of the aircraft looks like a ultra modern software lab with work stations, radars, communication facilities.
Besides the captain and co-pilot, a team of eight navigators and observers will scan the Indian Ocean, Arabian sea and the Bay of Bengal for uninvited guests and strangers. The aircraft is fitted with sea survival life rafts capable of accommodating 12 persons in case of any untoward incidents.
The Skylions offer the country Complete air superiority from Malacca Strait to African Coast and from the Himalayas to the Antarctic region, according to one of the crew members. The first of the P-8I aircraft, ordered in 2009, joined the fleet in May 2013 while the eighth aircraft joined in October 2015.