Boeing sees export market of 100 maritime planes

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) said on Tuesday that it was confident the U.S. Congress would approve a $2.1 billion sale of eight P-8 naval patrol aircraft to India, and projected global demand for at least 100 more airplanes in coming years.

India, fast becoming one of the world's biggest arms importers, announced on Monday that it had signed a contract with Boeing for eight anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare aircraft as part of an overhaul of the South Asian nation's mainly old Soviet military hardware.

Bob Feldmann, Boeing's program manager for the P-8, or Poseidon, program, welcomed the agreement and said he hoped it would be the first of many international orders for the Boeing 737-based plane.

"We have a tremendous horizon out there," Feldmann told a teleconference, noting that a large number of maritime nations that operate the predecessor P-3 or other patrol planes, and none had replaced or modernized their fleets in decades.

"We see a market of 100-plus international Poseidons in the various maritime nations that need this kind of capability," he said.

Boeing is developing the aircraft for the U.S. Navy under one of the rare Pentagon programs that has met its cost and schedule targets.

Feldmann said Boeing officials had signed a contract with India on Jan. 1, but declined to give many additional details.