The Biden Administration notified the Congress of its determination to sell six P-8I patrol aircraft to India for an estimated cost of USD 2.42 billion.
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In November 2019, the Defence Acquisition Council, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, approved the procurement of the long-range maritime surveillance aircraft manufactured by Boeing.
The original proposal was for 10 more aircraft but was cut down to six due to budgetary constraints as well as because the Navy had adopted some fleet rationalisation measures and was considering long-endurance unmanned platforms.
The possible sale comes through the Foreign Military Sale route and requires that the U.S. Congress be notified.
With India having signed the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) foundational agreement with the U.S., the six aircraft will come fitted with encrypted systems.
These systems were replaced with commercial off-the-shelf systems in the earlier deals.
The P-8I is based on the Boeing 737 commercial aircraft and India was its first international customer.
