P-8 Poseidons at Singapore

In an enhanced defence agreement between Singapore Defence Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen and his US counterpart Ash Carter, the island state will facilitate operation of US Navy P-8 Poseidons from Paya Lebar Air Base, the only such facility in Singapore open to foreign aircraft. The agreement is consistent with the 1990 memorandum of understanding and the 2005 strategic forces agreement signed between the two countries. The first involved P-8s assigned to Patrol Squadron 16 (VP-16) ‘War Eagles’ from a detachment at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan and took place in December 2015. P-8 operations from Paya Lebar will not be limited to the South China Sea and will be flown “wherever international law allows, including international air space above the South China Sea and other parts of the region.”

Meanwhile, the US Naval Air Systems Command announced its work to integrate the APS-154 Advanced Airborne Sensor (AAS), aboard the P-8A Poseidon. Ongoing testing by Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20 (VX-20) based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland seeks to confirm the ability of the P-8A and AAS to operate safely and efficiently. The APS-154 radar is housed in a large externally mounted radome carried on underside of the aircraft’s fuselage and is a follow-on to the Littoral Surveillance Radar System (LSRS) used by the US Navy P-3C Orion aircraft to detect moving and stationary targets at sea and on land. The system is classified as an integrated intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting asset, with mast and periscope detection capability.