New Delhi ? The Indian navy has agreed to buy eight reconnaissance and anti-submarine planes from Boeing Co. in a $2.1 billion deal that signals the developing nation’s drive to upgrade its military hardware.

The first of the aircraft, a variant of the P-8A Poseidon under development for the U.S. Navy, will be delivered within four years, and the remaining seven will be delivered by 2015, the defense unit of Chicago-based Boeing said Tuesday.

India will become Boeing’s first international customer for the plane, known as the P-8I, which also is capable of performing search-and-rescue, surveillance and targeting missions, according to the company.