Boeing begins building Indian Navy's 1st P-8I aircraft

Aerospace major Boeing has begun fabricating the first part for the Indian Navy's next-generation long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft P-81 that is expected to boost India's strategic reach.

"Today marks the P-8I programme's move from the design phase to the build phase," said Leland Wight, Boeing P-8I program manager.

"We're on schedule and the Indian navy is looking forward to receiving its first plane," he said.

Boeing said it will deliver the first of eight P-8I aircraft to India within 48 months of the original contract signing, which took place in January 2009.

The P-8I, based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737 commercial airplane, is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing is developing for the US Navy.

It would provide India, which is the first international customer for the next-generation aircraft, speed, reliability, persistence and room for growth to satisfy the country's maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare requirements.

Employees at Spirit AeroSystems -- where all Boeing Next-Generation 737 fuselages, nacelles and pylons are designed and built -- cut the P-8I's first part, a bonded aluminum panel that later will be installed on the fuselage's upper lobe to support an antenna.

The panel and other fuselage components will come together on Spirit's existing Next-Generation 737 production line, said a Boeing statement.

Spirit will ship the P-8I fuselage to a Boeing Commercial Airplanes facility in Renton, Washington, in mid-2011 for final assembly.

Later, Boeing Defense, Space & Security employees will install mission systems and complete testing prior to delivery to India.

"P-8I fuselage sections are designed and built using the same processes we use on the commercial 737," said Mike King, Spirit AeroSystems Fuselage Segment senior vice president and general manager.

"We've built seven P-8A fuselages to date and continue to increase efficiency as we move forward," he said.