Parts Assembly Begins For First Boeing P-8I For Indian Navy

(Avaition Week ) : The first parts for the Indian navy’s initial Boeing P-8I maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine-warfare aircraft have entered manufacturing at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan.The first part, cut on Dec 6, is a bonded aluminum panel that later will be installed on the fuselage’s upper lobe to support an antenna. Spirit, which builds all fuselages for the Boeing 737 family on which the P-8 is based, is scheduled to deliver the P-8I fuselage to the Boeing Commercial Airplanes 737 assembly facility in Renton, Wash., in mid-2011. Following initial assembly, Boeing Defense, Space & Security will assume responsibility for the aircraft, installing mission systems and completing testing prior to delivery to India. Boeing says it plans to deliver the first of eight P-8I aircraft to India “within 48 months of the original contract signing, which took place in January 2009.”