P-81 MARITIME AIRCRAFT

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Context

• Defence minister Rajnath Singh flew a sortie in the Indian Navy's P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft during his visit to Mumbai.

About P-81 Maritime Aircraft

• P-81 aircraft is India’s 12^th maritime surveillance and antisubmarine warfare delivered by Boeing.
• The aircraft is designed for long-range anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASuW), and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, and is a multi-mission aircraft with state-of-the-art sensors, proven weapons systems, and a globally recognised platform.
• The aircraft has two variants — the P-8I, which is manufactured for the Indian Navy, and the P-8A Poseidon, which is flown by the US Navy, the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, and the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
• The P-8I can fly as high as 41,000 feet, and has a short transit time, which reduces the size of the “Area of Probability when searching for submarines, surface vessels or search and rescue survivors”.
• It is also used for low altitude, humanitarian, and search and rescue missions.
• The aircraft has two engines, and is about 40 meters long, with a wingspan of 37.64 meters.
• The aircraft comes with one of the most advanced weapon systems in the world, and has a life of around 25 years, or 25,000 hours in the “harshest maritime flight regimes, including extended operations in icing environments”.

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