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A Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft is being deployed to Singapore amid growing tensions over territorial claims in the South China Sea:
The United States has deployed a P-8 Poseidon spy plane to Singapore for the first time. It is the latest in a series of US military actions seen as a response to China's increasingly assertive claims over territory in the South China Sea.
The US says it will also base a military reconnaissance plane at Singapore's Paya Lebar air base. US P-8s already operate from Japan and the Philippines, and surveillance flights have taken off from Malaysia. The P-8 was deployed on Monday, and will remain in Singapore until 14 December.
In addition to the P-8 deployment, the US says it will operate a military plane, either a P-8 Poseidon or a P-3 Orion, from Singapore for the foreseeable future, rotating planes on a quarterly basis. The US-Singapore agreement, announced after a meeting in Washington on Monday between US Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, also covers co-operation on counter-terrorism, fighting piracy, and disaster relief.
Previously: China's Island Factory
China Builds Artificial Islands in South China Sea
Chinese Weaponry Spotted on Artificial Islands
(Score: 3, Informative) by Aichon on Thursday December 10 2015, @03:44PM
It's both. It serves multiple roles, including anti-submarine, anti-surface, and electronic intelligence. But one look at the thing will tell you (since it looks more like a passenger jet or an AWAX than it does a fighter craft or a bomber) that it's not intended to get in a scrap by itself. It basically drops sonar buoys, listens to the airwaves, and then has some torpedoes and depth charges for if it needs them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 10 2015, @03:50PM
AWAX? That a competitor for http://www.barnes.com.au/release-agents/j-wax-aerosal-can-1220 [barnes.com.au] ?
Or did you mean AWACS?
(Score: 2) by Aichon on Thursday December 10 2015, @03:56PM
Thanks for the correction. Quite right. Mea culpa.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday December 10 2015, @10:11PM
He was thinking of a Brazilian spy plane.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday December 11 2015, @05:22AM
Looks like a passenger plane because it is a 737 painted grey.
The adversary that that makes the mistake of thinking it wasn't intended to get into a scrap by itself would quickly be educated to the fact it can drop a whole lot more than sonar buoys and depth charges. Maybe clicking the first link in TFS would help?
Simply because it can pick up radio signals does not make it a spy plane. A crop duster can pick up radio signals.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.