Tokyo: The U.S. Navy's first advanced P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft has arrived in Japan, the start of a deployment that will upgrade America's ability to hunt submarines and other vessels in seas close to China as tension in the region mounts.
The deployment, planned before China last month established an air defense zone covering islands controlled by Japan and claimed by Beijing, includes six aircraft to be delivered to Kadena air base on Okinawa this month.
The first arrived on Sunday, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy told Reuters. The mission in the waters west of Japan's main islands will be the new aircraft's first anywhere.
The jet, built by Boeing Co based on its 737 passenger plane, has been built to replace the aging propeller-powered Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion patrol aircraft, which has been in service for 50 years.
Packed with the latest radar equipment and armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, the P-8 is able to fly further and stay out on mission longer than the P-3.
The arrival of the P-8 came a day before U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is due to arrive in Tokyo, a visit that is being overshadowed by the territorial spat in the East China Sea between Japan and China.
While taking no position on the sovereignty of the islands known to the Japanese as the Senkakus and to the Chinese as the Daioyu, it does recognize Japanese control and therefore part of territory it would defend under a security pact with Japan.
The deployment, planned before China last month established an air defense zone covering islands controlled by Japan and claimed by Beijing, includes six aircraft to be delivered to Kadena air base on Okinawa this month.
The first arrived on Sunday, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy told Reuters. The mission in the waters west of Japan's main islands will be the new aircraft's first anywhere.
Packed with the latest radar equipment and armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, the P-8 is able to fly further and stay out on mission longer than the P-3.
Advertisement
While taking no position on the sovereignty of the islands known to the Japanese as the Senkakus and to the Chinese as the Daioyu, it does recognize Japanese control and therefore part of territory it would defend under a security pact with Japan.
© Thomson Reuters 2013
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
US Woman Falls From Golf Cart, Sues Hard Rock Hotel For Rs 4 Crore Donald Trump Calls Out Kamala Harris For Climate Misinformation Wealthy China Couples Are Employing "Professionals" To Fulfill Their Parental Duties After Backlash Over Freshers' Pay, Cognizant Clarifies What Techies Get Bengaluru Student, Returning From Party, Raped By Biker Who Gave Her Lift Indian-Origin Couple, Daughter Killed In US Crash, Leave Behind Teen Son Supreme Court takes up Kolkata doctor rape-murder case, Chief Justice-led bench to hear matter on Tuesday 'Slapped Cheek Virus' On The Rise In US. All About Parvovirus B19 Fed Up With Stunt Riders, People Throw 2 Scooters Off Bengaluru Flyover Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.