An Indian Navy P-81 Poseidon. (File photo)
New Delhi: Boeing India has partnered with AI Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) to provide in-country overhaul services for critical components of the Indian Navy’s 12-aircraft P-8I Poseidon fleet. The collaboration has already borne fruit, with the first landing gear overhaul of a P-8I aircraft successfully completed at INS Rajali.
This milestone marks a first for India and underscores the country’s growing indigenous capabilities in complex maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services.
Salil Gupte, president of Boeing India and South Asia, highlighted the strategic importance of the partnership. He said: “Through this partnership with AIESL, we continue to make strategic investments in India’s MRO capabilities that enhance mission readiness rates for the Indian Navy. Developing local MRO capabilities is critical for reducing repair turnaround time and aircraft downtime, thereby improving the mission readiness of customer fleets.”
The P-8I, a multirole long-range maritime reconnaissance anti-submarine warfare (LRMR ASW) aircraft, plays a vital role in the Navy’s maritime surveillance missions across the Indian Ocean.
L–R: Boeing’s Nikhil Joshi and Ashwani Bhargava, MoD Integrated Headquarters’ Commodore Ramesh Menon, and AIESL’s Sunil Arora and Sharad Agarwal at the event commemorating the successful completion of the first Indian Navy P-8I landing-gear overhaul in India. (Photo: Boeing India)
AIESL’s CEO, Sharad Agarwal, expressed pride in the partnership. He said: “We are proud to partner with Boeing, and for successfully completing the landing gear overhaul of the P-8I aircraft, a first in India. It is a significant step towards India's aspirations to become the regional hub for MRO services.”
This partnership falls under the Boeing India Repair Development and Sustainment (BIRDS) hub programme, which aims to establish a local network of suppliers to build a robust MRO ecosystem for both defence and commercial aircraft. The programme focuses on setting industry benchmarks for maintenance and repair, platform availability, customer satisfaction, and rapid turnaround time.
A key aspect of the BIRDS hub is its emphasis on training programmes. These initiatives aim to increase the number of skilled workers by developing sub-tier suppliers and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), ultimately building top-tier MRO capabilities within India.
Industry observers keeping a keen eye on India’s defence sector say such partnerships, like between Boeing and AIESL, will play a crucial role in the country’s journey towards self-reliance in the aerospace sector.
