Raytheon delivers first radar for Indian P-8I to Boeing

Raytheon has delivered the first APY-10 radar to Boeing for integration on board the Indian Navy's first P-8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft that should be delivered in January 2013.

Raytheon's vice president for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Systems at the company's Space and Airborne Systems Business, Tim Carey, said: "Our APY-10 Radar will provide the Indian Navy with proven, low-risk technology built on generations of successful Raytheon maritime radar systems."

He told India Strategic defence magazine (www.indiastrategic.in) that the radar, which can look over land, littoral and the seas, fully meets the Indian Navy's specifications and that all the required units would be delivered on or before time to Boeing, which is building and integrating the 12 P-8I aircraft ordered by the Indian Navy.

The radar also provides weather data and is compatible for connectivity with Indian naval ships, satellites and other nodes as required.

Announcing the delivery, Carey said that the Indian government has a requirement corresponding to varied terrain and climatic conditions. The radar hence has an interleaved weather and surface search capability in-built to provide the cockpit with up-to-date weather avoidance information while performing surveillance missions.He disclosed that the APY-10 radar is installed in the nose of the aircraft, is forward looking and enables 240 degrees surveillance.

"There is no separate type designation for India. It is the same product which is sold to other governments. With reduced weight and power consumption, the APY-10 radar has improved the average mean time between failures by six times over earlier generation radars. The design offers significant growth possibilities."

Boeing's P-8I, being built in collaboration with Raytheon, CFM International, Northrop Grumman, Spirit AeroSystems, BAE Systems and GE Aviation, is the new generation of maritime patrol aircraft with missile capability to attack ships and submarines. The radar can locate multiple threats from small hostile vessels to submarines and destroy them.

"The radar has tremendous multi-mission capabilities. It can be used for border security, disaster relief, maritime surveillance, medical-evacuation and environmental monitoring. The region would be expected to place orders for 100 new maritime patrol aircraft within the next three to five years. About 1,000 are in operation worldwide currently," said Carey.

The APY-10 can fly on all types of platforms and the smallest of these is a UAV like the Predator.

The first P-8I is already in test flights to check the Boeing 737 platform as well as its various systems one by one. Indian naval officers are regularly monitoring the progress of the project to ensure desired capability and on-time delivery.