The Boeing P-8I for India successfully completed its final design review (FDR) on July 16, clearing the way for the manufacture of the first 737 based P-8I to begin.
The FDR saw the designs for the aircraft’s radar, communications, navigation, mission computing, acoustics, sensors, and ground and test support equipment locked in, as well as for the aircraft itself.
“For P-8I, we are incorporating not only India-unique design features, but also India built subsystems, so this agreement that the design addresses all customer requirements is a huge milestone,” Leland Wight, Boeing’s P-8I program manager said in a statement. “It also leads us to the program’s next stage: We are on track to start fabricating the P-8I’s empennage section before the end of this year.”
The first P-8I is due to be delivered to India in 2013.