The Indian Navy recently deployed its P8I surveillance planes for carrying out anti-piracy patrol sorties from Salalah (in Oman) to patrol the Gulf of Aden and other piracy prone areas.

• The deployment is an expansion of Navy’s Mission Based Deployments (MBD) in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), to keep the region safe.
• Since 2008, India has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the commercially and strategically crucial Gulf of Aden.
• P-8 was procured from USA  under a $2.2 Billion deal.