Condors
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Context: Navy commissions second P-8I squadron INAS 316 ‘Condors’ in Goa. The rapidity and flexibility with which P-8Is have responded to various contingencies reflect India’s resolve to be ‘Preferred Security Partner’ in Indian Ocean Region.
P-8I
- It is a long-range maritime patrol aircraft.
- The Indian Navy procured four P-8I aircraft as part of the optional clause in 2016 in a deal worth over $1 bn, deliveries of which were completed recently by Boeing.
- It will significantly enhance squadron ability to protect, preserve and promote India’s maritime interests,”
- The squadron has been named ‘Condors’, one of the largest flying land birds with a massive wingspan.
- It is a potent platform for maritime surveillance and strike, electronic warfare missions, search and rescue, providing targeting data to weapon platforms, time-critical surveillance information to the Army and the Air Force.
- It was also the platform of choice for detecting and neutralising enemy ships and submarines in the IOR.
- They had been deployed for extensive search and rescue operations in the aftermath of Cyclone ‘Tauktae’, and rendered Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) assistance post-cyclone ‘Hudhud’.
- The aircraft were also deployed for support to friendly foreign countries during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the government’s ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative and participated with distinction in numerous multinational exercises
- Agreement with U.S.: The six P-8Is will come installed with encrypted communication systems as India has now signed the foundational agreement Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) with the U.S.
About COMCASA:
- COMCASA was signed in September 2018.
- The pact allows the US to provide India with its encrypted communications equipment and systems so that Indian and US military commanders, and the aircraft and ships of the two countries, can communicate through secure networks during times of both peace and war.
- The signing of COMCASA paved the way for the transfer of communication security equipment from the US to India to facilitate “interoperability” between their forces — and potentially with other militaries that use US-origin systems for secure data links.
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