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Jean Iau

Singapore will acquire four Boeing P-8A maritime patrol aircraft from the United States to counter submarine threats and refresh its maritime security capabilities, Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing has said.
Chan was in Washington this week to meet his counterpart, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, at the Pentagon and shared Singapore’s decision to procure the aircraft that would replace the existing Fokker 50s, which had been in service since 1993.
The P-8A maritime patrol aircraft is designed for maritime patrol and equipped with anti-submarine warfare capabilities. It was developed based on the Boeing 737-800 commercial aircraft and is operated by nine other countries including South Korea, India and Australia.
Calling Singapore an “anchor of US friendship and presence in the region”, Hegseth said: “Our relationship has been crucial to regional stability and maintaining deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.”
Singapore’s defence ministry on Wednesday also provided an update on the 20 F-35 fighter jets the city state had acquired from the US, with Chan saying production had commenced and the jets were on track for delivery by the end of 2026.

In February last year, Singapore announced it planned to order an additional eight F-35A jets, bringing the country’s fleet to 20. It had earlier ordered 12 vertical take-off and landing version F-35Bs and eight conventional version F-35As.
The US and Singapore have close defence ties, allowing troops to train in each other’s territories. Both sides will join Exercise Forging Sabre at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho this week, according to the US Department of War.
During the meeting, Chan reiterated Singapore’s support for continued American engagement in the Asia-Pacific, in line with the 1990 agreement which was renewed in 2019 by President Donald Trump and Singapore’s then prime minister Lee Hsien Loong.
The agreement facilitates access for US forces to Singapore’s air and naval bases, and provides logistic support for their transiting personnel, aircraft and vessels.
Chan thanked Hegseth for Washington’s long-standing support for Singapore’s forces training on US soil, including for the future air force training detachment at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas.

Chan and Hegseth also welcomed closer collaboration on emerging threats, including through joint research and development, such as a recent refresh of the Combating Terrorism Research and Development Memorandum of Agreement that would allow both sides to develop emerging technologies to counter terrorism, Singapore’s defence ministry said.
The island nation has the second-largest permanent foreign military training presence on the US mainland, with nearly 1,000 Singaporean armed forces personnel training at any one time.
“That has allowed us to plant the seeds for generations of young men and women to work together, to grow up together, to build the trust that’s so necessary for us to work together,” Chan said, according to the US Department of War.
While in the US, Chan will visit troops taking part in Forging Sabre in Idaho and the F-35 production facility in Fort Worth, Texas.
In Washington, Chan will meet Deputy National Security Adviser Andy Baker, US Secretary of the Air Force Dr Troy E. Meink, US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and members of Congress.


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The new aircraft will replace the existing Fokker 50s, in service since 1993, as Singapore and the US reaffirm close defence ties


The new aircraft will replace the existing Fokker 50s, in service since 1993, as Singapore and the US reaffirm close defence ties.


Singapore to boost maritime defence with 4 Boeing P-8A patrol aircraft

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The new aircraft will replace the existing Fokker 50s, in service since 1993, as Singapore and the US reaffirm close defence ties

The new aircraft will replace the existing Fokker 50s, in service since 1993, as Singapore and the US reaffirm close defence ties