Boeing’s C-17 Globemaster III in IAF service
For over 75 years of its 100 year legacy, Boeing has been a strong partner of the Indian armed forces. Boeing’s relationship with India on the defence front goes back to the 1940s, when the Indian Air Force enlisted two Boeing aircraft: the T-6 Texan, or Harvard Advanced Trainer, made by North American Aviation, and the C-47 Skytrain military transport, a military variant of the DC-3, made by McDonnell Douglas.
Boeing has been steadily building on this foundation and has been continuously supporting the mission readiness and modernisation of India’s defence forces.
The pace and depth of our engagement through products, services and partnerships have increased in recent years. We have expanded our global supply-chain footprint through collaboration; grown our partnerships in research, technology and academia to leverage India’s strengths and we consistently demonstrated our commitment to the success of “Make in India.”
Boeing has been providing robust services and support packages to the Indian Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster III fleet and the Indian Navy’s P-8I fleet. The GISP “virtual fleet” arrangement ensures mission readiness by providing all C-17 customers access to an extensive support network for worldwide parts availability and economies of scale. The C-17 GISP is a system-level partnership, where the customer pays for readiness, rather than specific parts or services.
Boeing also offers fully integrated training systems for C-17 aircrews in India at the C-17 Training Centre, which was inaugurated in July 2016, in collaboration with Mahindra Defence Systems (MDS). The C-17 training facility, is a full-service location offering instruction to aircrews that operate the 10 C-17 airlifters that Boeing delivered to India in 2014. The centre features a complete training solution for C-17 pilots and loadmasters with advanced simulation, courseware and computer-based training to practice the complete range of tasks required for military airlift operations and humanitarian missions, along with other scenarios such as aerial refueling and emergency procedures. The Centre has completed over 1700 hours of training and has maintained a serviceability state of 100 percent.
In June 2017, Boeing was also awarded a $131 million interim support agreement contract in support of the Indian Navy’s fleet of P-8I aircraft. In January this year, the Defence Acquisitions Council cleared the procurement of a training solution from Boeing to support the Indian Navy’s P-8I crews. The training solution is customised for the Indian Navy and will offer an integrated learning approach that will combine classroom education with simulation. Dedicated support will be provided to maintain the simulators and courseware, ensuring maximum availability.
The indigenous, ground-based training system for P-8I will allow Indian Navy crews to increase proficiency in a shorter time, without using finite fatigue life or putting the aircraft at risk during a training scenario.
The approximately 60,000 sq. ft. large Training Support & Data Handling (TSDH) Centre will be setup at INS Rajali to provide training to aircrew and maintenance technicians. The TSDH at INS Rajali will comprise of an Operational Flight Trainer, a Weapons Tactics Trainer, an Ordnance Load Trainer, a Virtual Maintenance Trainer, a Data Management & Training Console, five Electronic Aircrew Classroom and an Electronic Maintenance Classroom.
In addition to continued support to present aircraft, Boeing sees a significant opportunity in the future to support the Apache and Chinook helicopters in the coming years. We have been providing simulation based training solutions to the US Army and other international customers who operate the AH-64 Apache and CH-47 Chinook worldwide.
A future blueprint for partnership
Boeing has had a presence in India for more than seven decades and is committed to expanding that partnership. Our F/A-18 Super Hornet India proposal envisages the production of Super Hornets in India, in partnership with MDS and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, further developing India’s aerospace ecosystem.
With designed-in stealth and robust capability growth plan, the Super Hornet is the best aircraft to function as a roadmap to get to India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme. Boeing proposes to work closely with Indian aerospace industry to ensure they have the very latest technologies, applying lessons learned from the current Super Hornet production line and bringing in its global scale and expertise to Indian aerospace.
The advanced technologies and combat tested multi-role capabilities of the Super Hornet, make it a perfect fit for the needs of the Indian armed forces, outpacing threats that will emerge, even decades from now.
Pratyush Kumar, President, Boeing India