2 July 2025
Flying from the city of Goa on India’s west coast, Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon crews have stretched their wings alongside their Indian Navy counterparts.
In June, a RAAF P-8A Poseidon and contingent deployed to Indian Naval Station (INS) Hansa, located near the city of Goa.
The deployment follows previous deployments by RAAF P-8As to airfields in India, including to Goa in 2022, and deployments by Indian P-8Is to Australia.
INS Hansa near Goa is one of the bases for the Indian Navy’s fleet of P-8I Neptunes, a similar variant of the maritime patrol aircraft flown by the RAAF.
Squadron Leader Brennan Farrell was the detachment commander for the RAAF contingent.
“The detachment was hosted by Indian Navy Air Squadron (INAS) 316 ‘Condors’, who provided operations and maintenance support,” Squadron Leader Farrell said.
“The teams operated seamlessly and built strong and meaningful relationships across each of the functional teams.”
Flying missions over the northern Indian Ocean, Australian and Indian P-8 crews supported the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales.
Deployed to the Indo-Pacific region under Operation Highmast, Prince of Wales forms part of a carrier strike group conducting an eight-month deployment from Europe with ships from 12 nations.
Squadron Leader Farrell said RAAF and Indian Navy P-8 crews provided maritime domain awareness (MDA) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) sorties in the northern Indian Ocean.
'The RAAF detachment gained invaluable experience operating from India, enhancing our capability across the Indo-Pacific.'
“This was an excellent opportunity to normalise common tactics, techniques and procedures resulting in mission success,” he said.
The P-8’s mission strengths include its ability to fly long ranges at relatively high speed, and the ability to coordinate missions and operate a sophisticated suite of sensors.
Rotary-wing aircraft such as the Merlin and Wildcat helicopters, meanwhile, can be launched from the decks of ships to immediately conduct ASW and MDA missions.
All crews work closely with ship-based counterparts throughout their mission.
“The Royal Navy ships provided air control duties while the RAAF P-8A conducted Scene of Action Commander duties,” Squadron Leader Farrell said.
“Operating with the Indian P-8I and other aircraft involves coordinating areas of responsibility, communicating and classifying contacts of interest that we detect with sensors, and handing over ‘track custody’ for a ship or aircraft to follow.”
Back at Goa, RAAF P-8A aviators from 11 Squadron conducted subject matter expert exchange activities with INAS 316 members, which included sharing tactical, operational and technical experiences.
“This was beneficial to both squadrons to enhance understanding of operations in geographically and operationally unique environments,” Squadron Leader Farrell said.
“The operational sorties and integration activities with INAS 316 at INS Hansa led to a very successful deployment.
“The RAAF detachment gained invaluable experience operating from India, enhancing our capability across the Indo-Pacific.”
