India signed a contract worth $1 billion on Wednesday to purchase four long-range P-8I aircraft from Boeing Co, defence and industry sources told Defenseworld.net.
India has already deployed eight of the long-range P-8I aircraft to track submarine movements in the Indian Ocean and on Wednesday exercised an option for four more, sources said.
Boeing last year completed the delivery of the last of the aircraft under the previous order worth $2.1 billion.
The Indian navy has deployed some of its P8-I aircraft to the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands near the Malacca Straits and two other routes into the Indian Ocean for military and commercial shipping.