Move to procure six more P-8I submarine hunters before DAC this week

According to sources, the procurement is set to be cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) at its meeting on February 12. It will then need to be cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security, and the final deal will be signed after the cost negotiations are over.

According to officials familiar with the matter, the procurement will be made under the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 — the document that governs all capital military procurements — thus eliminating any offset obligation to the US firm.

In 2020, the defence ministry had removed the offset clause requirement in Inter-Governmental Agreements when it released the new Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAC) 2020.

So, amid the increased push for ‘Make in India’, this is one of the few foreign procurements which will not involve any technology transfer and, possibly, other obligations like co-production or creation of maintenance and repair infrastructure.

In November 2019, the DAC had cleared the procurement of six P-8Is, following which the US Department of Defense (DoD), in April 2021, had cleared the sale at an estimated cost of $2.42 billion. The deal, however, did not fructify. The price of the aircraft is expected to have escalated significantly since then.

In a renewed push, India and the US have been discussing the finer details of the deal over the last few months. In September last year, a delegation of the US Department of Defence and Boeing officials visited India in this connection.

Last month, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, accompanied by a US delegation, had met Defence Secretary R K Singh, following which he posted on X, “…joint exercises will continue, additional sales are in progress..”.

Over the last few months, India has also initiated a few other key military procurements from the US, including 216 M982A1 Excalibur tactical projectiles and 100 Javelin rounds for over $90 million. India has also signed Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOAs) with the US for sustainment support of the Indian Navy’s fleet of MH-60R helicopters through Follow-on Support and Follow-on Supply Support for a period of five years, worth Rs 7,995 crore.

Currently, the Indian Navy operates 12 P-8Is, which were ordered in two batches — the first batch of eight aircraft was ordered in 2009, and subsequently four aircraft were ordered in 2016. The Rajali-based INAS 312 and INAS 316 at INS Hansa, Goa, operate these aircraft.

Amrita Nayak Dutta writes on defence and national security as part of the national bureau of The Indian Express. In the past, Amrita has extensively reported on the media industry and broadcasting matters, urban affairs, bureaucracy and government policies. In the last 14 years of her career, she has worked in newspapers as well as in the online media space and is well versed with the functioning of both newsrooms. Amrita has worked in the northeast, Mumbai and Delhi. She has travelled extensively across the country, including in far-flung border areas, to bring detailed reports from the ground and has written investigative reports on media and defence. She has been working for The Indian Express since January 2023. ... Read More

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