The Indian Navy awarded Boeing [BA] a three-year contract earlier for an undisclosed value in June to continue supporting its fleet of P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, the company said Monday.
The contract covers field and logistics service representatives, engineering, support, and planning services. The company noted the agreement also includes material support like the 737-based component services program that will be executed in conjunction with Boeing Commercial Aviation Services Fleet Services division.
The Indian Navy operates eight P-8I maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft at INS (Indian naval air station) Rajali. Boeing won a contract in 2016 to deliver four more P-8Is beginning in 2020.
The agreement continues Boeing services under the initial production contract, which was set to expire in October. Boeing has been working with India on its defense capabilities and mission requirements since 2009.
“Our Boeing Defence India (BDI) team remains focused on executing on our commitments to customers on schedule and cost. With this contract, the Indian Navy can be assured of achieving exceptional operational capability and readiness of the P-8I fleet,” Pratyush Kumar, president of Boeing India and vice president of Boeing International, said in a statement.
Boeing recently established BDI as a local operating entity to “drive the company’s future growth objectives in India by being responsive to customer needs and growing indigenous engineers, sourcing, manufacturing and lifecycle management capabilities,” the company explained. BDI operates as the local services delivery vehicle of the soon-to-be-operational Boeing Global Services business unit.
“This contract will substantially bolster Boeing’s performance-based support to the Indian Navy and should maintain or increase the operational capability of the eight-aircraft fleet,” Stephen Schmidt, P-8I sustainment program manager, added in a statement.