SAF's new P-8A aircraft plugs anti-submarine capabilities gap

Replacing the Fokker 50s, their acquisition also signals Singapore's continued defence ties with US: Experts

- Ng Wei Kai

Singapore's acquisition of four new Boeing P-8A maritime patrol aircraft will upgrade the SAF's ability to counter submarines amid an increased use of the undersea vessels in recent years, said defence experts.

They said the new planes are a significant upgrade over the nine Fokker 50s that the Singapore Armed Forces has deployed since 1993. The Fokker planes are limited to surveillance of the ocean's surface and missions targeting ships.

Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing told US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth that Singapore had decided to acquire the Boeing aircraft at a meeting at the Pentagon on Sept 10 (Singapore time).

Mr Chan's update comes about half a year after his predecessor, Dr Ng Eng Hen, said the Republic was evaluating replacements for the Fokker 50s.

S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies associate research fellow Thomas Lim said a maritime patrol aircraft is meant to surveil a state's maritime territory and borders as well as monitor threats coming from "above the sea, on the sea and below the sea".

As a maritime nation, Singapore depends heavily on the security of its sea lines of communication global trading routes that ships pass through, said Dr Abdul Rahman Yaacob, a South-east Asian defence researcher based at the Australian National University.

Equipped to carry torpedoes, the P-8A enables the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) to counter submarines, he said.