India approves purchase of 6 new P-8I Neptune maritime patrol aircraft to boost Indian Ocean coverage.

India has approved the acquisition of six additional Boeing P-8I Neptune maritime patrol aircraft, transitioning the long-pending program from administrative clearance to financial negotiations.

On February 12, 2026, India’s Defence Acquisition Council cleared the procurement of six additional Boeing P-8I Neptune maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft for the Indian Navy. The program now advances toward Cabinet Committee on Security approval under the intergovernmental framework with the United States. The expansion would increase the Indian Navy’s maritime patrol fleet from 12 to 18 aircraft to sustain surveillance and anti-submarine operations across the Indian Ocean.
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India’s P-8I procurement began in January 2009, when India became the first international customer and ordered eight aircraft in a $2.1 billion deal, followed by an optional order for four more aircraft in 2016. (Picture source: Boeing)

India’s Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) finally cleared the procurement of six additional Boeing P-8I Neptune long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft for the Indian Navy, advancing a program that had remained pending for several years. The clearance followed a Defence Procurement Board approval on January 16, 2026, and comes after renewed bilateral engagement between New Delhi and Washington, including a February 2, 2026, trade understanding that reduced U.S. tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent. The acquisition will proceed under an inter-governmental framework with the United States and now moves toward Cabinet Committee on Security approval before contract signature after cost negotiations. The clearance ends a prolonged pause affecting a fleet expansion first approved in November 2019 and aligns with India’s requirement to sustain long-range surveillance coverage across the Indian Ocean Region amid expanding submarine activity.

The six-aircraft plan had previously received U.S. clearance on April 30, 2021, at an estimated cost of $2.42 billion for aircraft and associated equipment, with the number reduced from ten due to budget constraints. The associated package included at the time eight MIDS-JTRS 5 units, forty-two AN/AAR-54 missile warning sensors, and fourteen LN-251 Embedded GPS/Inertial Navigation Systems. By 2025, supply chain pressures had increased projected costs for six aircraft by up to 50 percent, with estimates ranging from $3 billion to potentially $4 billion depending on configuration and support. The Acceptance of Necessity for the current proposal was granted on February 12, 2025, and the February 2026 clearance marks the transition from administrative approval to final financial negotiation. The acquisition will be executed under the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020, which removes offset obligations in inter-governmental agreements and does not mandate technology transfer or co-production arrangements, limiting industrial return requirements but accelerating procedural approval.

India currently operates 12 P-8I Neptune maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft acquired in two batches, eight ordered in January 2009 under a $2.1 billion agreement and four ordered in July 2016 for $1.1 billion under an option clause. The first P-8I Neptune was inducted on May 15, 2013, at INS Rajali in Tamil Nadu, replacing the aging Tu-142M fleet. The P-8Is are operated by INAS 312 at INS Rajali and INAS 316 at INS Hansa in Goa, with the second squadron commissioned on March 29, 2022, following deliveries completed between November 2020 and February 2022. India has purchased 21 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II missiles and 32 Mark 54 lightweight torpedoes for the fleet, and additional Harpoon and Mark 54 sales were approved in April 2020 for the second batch. The addition of six aircraft would increase fleet availability for concurrent patrol arcs, training cycles, and surge operations without reducing routine coverage of sea lines of communication, diminishing the operational strain on the existing inventory.

The P-8I Neptune is the Indian Navy’s customized export variant of the Boeing P-8 Poseidon, itself derived from the Boeing 737-800ERX, a specialized airframe that combines the 737-800 fuselage with stronger 737-900 wings. Unlike the U.S. Navy’s P-8A Poseidon, the P-8I Neptune integrates a CAE AN/ASQ-508A Magnetic Anomaly Detector mounted in the tail and a Telephonics APS-143C(V)3 multi-mode aft radar. It uses an export-compliant Raytheon APY-10 multi-mission surface search radar and incorporates Bharat Electronics Limited's Data Link II for secure tactical data exchange between aircraft, ships, submarines, and shore establishments. The P-8I also features a BEL-developed Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system and an indigenous speech secrecy system to ensure encrypted communications within national command networks. These modifications tailor the P-8 to Indian Navy operational and network requirements while retaining the P-8 family’s core architecture.

In terms of performance, the P-8I Neptune possesses a combat radius of 1,200 nautical miles with four hours on station for anti-submarine warfare missions, a ferry range of 4,500 nautical miles, and a service ceiling of 41,000 feet. Powered by two CFM56-7B27A turbofan engines generating 27,300 lbf each, the Neptune can reach a maximum speed of 907 km/h. The airframe includes an internal weapons bay and six external hardpoints capable of carrying Mark 54 torpedoes, depth charges, Mk 82 bombs, naval mines, and AGM-84L Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Sensor integration combines magnetic anomaly detection (MAD), surface search radar, electronic support measures, and data fusion systems to allow the simultaneous tracking of surface and subsurface contacts. The P-8I Neptune’s range allows patrols from mainland bases or the Andaman and Nicobar Islands while covering maritime approaches and distant chokepoints such as the Malacca Strait.

India's operational employment of the P-8I Neptune has included sustained submarine tracking missions in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, particularly monitoring the Chinese Navy's submarine deployments into the Indian Ocean. The aircraft were also deployed during the 2017 Doklam standoff and the 2020 Ladakh crisis to provide overland surveillance using electro-optical and infrared sensors and radar coverage over mountainous terrain. Indian Navy P-8Is also participated in search operations related to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines' Flight 370 in 2014 and have supported additional search and rescue activities. The aircraft’s multi-mission profile combines anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance roles, enabling persistent monitoring rather than episodic deployment. Fleet expansion, therefore, directly affects coverage density and response time across a maritime area spanning from the Arabian Sea to the eastern approaches of the Strait of Malacca.

The February 2026 clearance, which included the confirmation of a purchase of 114 French Rafale jets, also coincides with a broader U.S.-India defense engagement cycle that includes recent acquisitions and sustainment agreements. India has initiated procurement of 216 M982A1 Excalibur projectiles and 100 Javelin rounds valued at over $90 million, and it has signed Letters of Offer and Acceptance for five years of sustainment support for the Indian Navy’s MH-60R helicopter fleet worth Rs 7,995 crore. In August 2024, Air India Engineering Services Limited signed an agreement with Boeing to maintain the P-8I fleet after completing landing gear overhaul work across the aircraft inventory. Indian suppliers such as HAL, Dynamatic Technologies, and Rossell Techsys provide components for Boeing’s global P-8 production chain, linking domestic industry to the wider program. With the six-aircraft expansion moving toward final approval, the P-8I remains the central long-range maritime patrol asset in India’s surveillance structure, complemented by plans for a C-295-based medium-range maritime aircraft to distribute routine coverage tasks.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.