The three services periodically hold joint exercises, and one such is due between the Indian Navy and IAF around March. Once the P8-I start arriving from mid-2013 onwards, there would be more exercises.
Meanwhile, the infrastructure to operate the P8-Is is being built at INS Rajali at Arakkonam Naval Air Station in Tamil Nadu, from where the aircraft can easily fly towards the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea. All the 12 aircraft will be based there.
Notably, unlike the earlier aircraft used for maritime reconnaissance and attack role, the four-engined Il-38 and Tu 142 which the Indian Navy has, or the Orion P3C which the US Navy has been flying so far, the P8-I is a jet with jet speed. Its two CFM 56 engines have, however, been tweaked to allow it to fly slow, and low above water.
The acquisition of the P8-I has brought to the Indian Navy some of the most sophisticated radar and other systems, particularly Raytheon's AN/APY-10 multi-mission surface search radar with a range of 200-400 km. This forward-looking Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) with 240 degree coverage is built on the technology of the famed AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar that the (IAF) wants on all its combat aircraft, beginning with the Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) being negotiated now.
To ensure 360 degree scanning however, the Indian Navy has got an aft radar from US Telephonics for rear coverage.
