Indian Navy's Submarine Hunting P-8I Aircraft Participates In Drills With French Navy In Southwest Indian Ocean

Indian Navy's Submarine Hunting P-8I Aircraft Participates In Drills With French Navy In Southwest Indian Ocean

by Swarajya Staff - Tuesday, May 10, 2022 12:10 PM IST
Indian Navy's Submarine Hunting P-8I Aircraft Participates In Drills With French Navy In Southwest Indian OceanIndian P-8I at Réunion Island. (Indian Navy/Twitter)

A P-8I submarine hunting aircraft of the Indian Navy is at the La Réunion Island in the southern Indian Ocean on a five-day mission to undertake coordinated surveillance with French Navy warships in the region.

It's not the first time that an Indian Navy P-8I has been deployed to the the Island of Réunion, an overseas department of France.

  • A P-8I aircraft of the Indian Navy participated in a joint patrol with France from the Réunion Island in 2020.

  • French Navy personnel were onboard the Indian Navy aircraft during the patrol in the southwest Indian Ocean.

Why this matters: “The P-8I aircraft will engage with French warships and undertake coordinated surveillance missions in area to enhance maritime safety and security in the Southern Indian Ocean, including the Mozambique Channel,” an Indian Navy spokesperson has said.

  • India’s maritime security strategy lists the south-west Indian Ocean, including the Mozambique Channel (used by shipping transiting the Cape of Good Hope) and the east coast of Africa, where China has been investing heavily, as one of the primary areas of interest.

  • India is building dual-use infrastructure (along with a 3,000 metre-long runway) on Mauritius' Agalega Island, located in the same region.

  • The infrastructure at Agalega will support India’s maritime assets, including P-8Is, in the western Indian Ocean, particularly waters close to the weastern coast of Africa, an increasingly important region where the Indian Navy’s engagements have been relatively limited.

  • India has access to military facilities of Japan, France and the United States — all three have bases in the western Indian Ocean — under the logistics exchange agreements it has signed with these countries.

The Indian Navy was the first international customer of the P-8 aircraft.

  • The Indian Navy commissioned its second squadron of P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft earlier this year.

  • Twelve of these aircraft are already in service with the Indian Navy, with the latest one delivered in February this year.

  • The navy, reports say, plans to have a total of 22 of these aircraft in the next few years to keep an eye on Chinese movements in the Indian Ocean region, most notably its submarines.

  • Over the last few years, India has also used the aircraft to track Chinese deployments along the Line of Actual Control amid the ongoing standoff in eastern Ladakh.

Dig Deeper: How India’s Military Base On Mauritius’ Agalega Island, Shrouded In Secrecy, Is Taking Shape

Get Swarajya in your inbox everyday. Subscribe here.

An Appeal...

Dear Reader,

As you are no doubt aware, Swarajya is a media product that is directly dependent on support from its readers in the form of subscriptions. We do not have the muscle and backing of a large media conglomerate nor are we playing for the large advertisement sweep-stake.

Our business model is you and your subscription. And in challenging times like these, we need your support now more than ever.

We deliver over 10 - 15 high quality articles with expert insights and views. From 7AM in the morning to 10PM late night we operate to ensure you, the reader, get to see what is just right.

Becoming a Patron or a subscriber for as little as Rs 1200/year is the best way you can support our efforts.

Become A Patron
Become A Subscriber
Comments ↓
Get Swarajya in your inbox everyday. Subscribe here.
Advertisement

Latest Articles

    Artboard 4Created with Sketch.