Indian Navy's P8I carrying out surveillance sorties in Gulf of Aden

The P8I surveillance planes of Indian Navy have been carrying out anti-piracy patrol sorties in Salalah in the Gulf of Aden and other piracy prone areas.

This is being done as part of the Navy's mission-based deployments to keep the Indian Ocean region safe.

The P8I is long-range anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations.

India had placed orders for 12 P-8 India maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare from the US under a USD 2.2 billion dollar deal in 2012.

After that, India again followed it up with an order for four more of these planes which have been used for carrying out extensive surveillance of the Indian Ocean region and the country's exclusive economic zone.

The aircraft have also helped in detection of Chinese nuclear and conventional submarines operating in the Indian Ocean and waters close to India.