An Agency of the U.S. Department of defense for military cooperation (Defense Security Cooperation Agency DSCA) April 30, 2021 sent Congress a notification about the planned upcoming sale India on request of the Indian government as part of the American program of the intergovernmental foreign military sales Foreign Military Sales (FMS) of six Maritime patrol aircraft Boeing P-8I Neptune (Poseidon) the total estimated cost of 2.42 billion. Weapons are not included in the delivery. This delivery is approved by the US Department of State.
The first base patrol aircraft built for the Indian Navy under the second contract is the Boeing P-8I Neptune (Poseidon) (Indian tail number IN328, factory number 64890, serial number 7757, temporary American registration N490DS) during test flights at the Boeing factory airfield. Seattle, 09.03.2020 (c) Woodys Aeroimages @AeroimagesChris / twitter.com
From the bmpd recall that by now the Indian Navy in 2012-2015 already received eight Maritime patrol aircraft P-8I contract from January 2009 worth $ 2.1 billion (2017 they are at the service of 312 squadron, Indian naval aviation, the Indian Board numbers c IN320 for IN327), and ordered in 2016 for $ 1.1 billion four more P-8I, with delivery in 2020-2022 years (the first aircraft with onboard room IN328 arrived in India in November 2020 these aircraft entered service 315 squadron, Indian naval aviation). It should be noted that both of these purchases of P-8I aircraft were made directly from the Boeing corporation through the American direct commercial sales procedure (Direct Commercial Sales-DCS), while the weapons for these aircraft were purchased under separate intergovernmental agreements under the American program of intergovernmental foreign military sales (Foreign Military Sales - FMS).
In June 2019, the Services Capital Acquisition Plan Categorization Higher Committee of the Ministry of Defense of India approved the purchase of ten more American P-8I aircraft for the Indian Navy for the amount of about $ 3 billion. Their purchase was also supposed to be carried out through DCS, and then it was expected that the relevant agreements could be finalized with Boeing as early as 2020, with the start of deliveries of aircraft to India in 2023.
However, later in 2020, the number of additional P-8I aircraft planned for purchase was reduced by the Indian government to six for budgetary reasons, and it is the notification of their planned delivery to India that is now issued by the DSCA. At the same time, as follows from the notification, the delivery of these aircraft is supposed to be carried out through the American intergovernmental mechanism FMS.
