Singapore Acquires Boeing P-8A Poseidon MPAs

SINGAPORE decided to procure a total of four P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) from Boeing to supplant  its existing fleet of Fokker-50 MPAs which have flown for more than 30 years. This acquisition is the first phase refresh of the Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) maritime security capabilities.

The decision was made public during the introductory visit of Singapore’s defence minister, Chan Chun Sing to the United States who informed US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth of the decision during their meeting at the Pentagon.

Based on the Boeing 737-800, the P-8A was designed for broad-area, maritime and littoral operations, as well as search and rescue (SAR), with highly potent long-range anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities. It boasts a cutting edge range of sensors and radar systems onboard such as advanced sonobuoys and acoustic processing systems to conduct concurrent passive and active processing.

The P-8A can also tackle anti-surface warfare (ASuW) with its suite of synthetic aperture radar systems, electro-optical/infrared cameras, and communication systems, giving the Poseidons the capability of detecting and tracking targets while simultaneously scanning for other potential maritime threats. It can also carry lightweight torpedoes to engage submarines.

Aside from maritime patrol, the P-8A has been deployed for search and locate missions to detect surface vessels, make use of its communication systems to enable coordinated search and locate operations with other rescue assets and possibly deploy life-saving equipment such as life rafts and survival kits if equipped.

The US Navy deployed P-8As to search for the missing MH370 airliner in 2014, covering thousands of square miles via the full spectrum of radar, infrared, electro-optical and visual search methods. Nine countries currently operate the Poseidon, including Australia, Canada, Germany, India, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the US.

Furthermore, the Singapore defence ministry also noted that production of the 20 Lockheed Martin F-35A/B stealth jets ordered for the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) are progressing well and on schedule for its end-2026 delivery date. Singapore added eight more F-35As on top of its initial 12 F-35B contract to replace the F-16s in service.

Both sides reaffirmed the excellent and longstanding bilateral defence relationship, with Singapore’s appreciation of the US’ longstanding support for SAF training across the US, such as Exercise Forging Sabre in Idaho, and the future RSAF training detachment at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas.–shp/adj/dl (Pix:AUS DOD, US DOD)