On the 19th, three new maritime patrol aircraft, the P-8A Poseidon, arrived at the Pohang Naval Air Command. These advanced aircraft will significantly enhance the Navy’s ability to conduct air-to-submarine warfare against North Korean submarines and quickly respond to maritime operations.
The P-8A Poseidon is a state-of-the-art maritime patrol aircraft known as the world’s best submarine killer. Boeing has produced these aircraft since September 2018, with six completed by 2023. After completing overseas acquisition training in the United States, the planes arrived in Korea.
In time for the P-8A’s arrival in our operational waters, the P-3 maritime patrol aircraft conducted a coordinated flight. This was carried out to welcome the P-8A’s safe arrival from the United States and perfectly protect the sea from the sky in the future.
During the flight, the P-3 pilots conveyed a message to welcome P-8A pilots over the operational waters. The P-8A pilots responded that they would complete the maritime defense mission by achieving the highest level of combat readiness through power build-up in the future.
The P-8A can perform anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, and maritime patrol operations. In both speed and operational radius, it surpasses the Navy’s current mainstay, the P-3 maritime patrol aircraft.
Equipped with high-performance surveillance and reconnaissance technology, including long-range X-band radar, digital electro-optical/infrared equipment, and electronic warfare equipment, the P-8A can detect maritime targets hundreds of kilometers away and take high-resolution images. It is also equipped with weapons capable of precision strikes against naval targets, such as ship-to-ship guided missiles and torpedoes capable of striking underwater submarines. It can carry about 120 acoustic detection buoys, enabling it to detect, identify, and track enemy submarine signals.
The introduction of the P-8A will help the Navy quickly respond in the event of maritime operations and surveillance capabilities. It also improves interoperability with the U.S. Navy, which operates the same aircraft, facilitating smoother joint naval aviation operations.
The Navy announced that three more P-8As are scheduled to arrive on the 30th, and a handover ceremony will be held at the Naval Air Command on the 4th of next month. The Navy plans to deploy the P-8A in operations mid-next year after evaluating its operational capabilities through a year-long power build-up training.
The total cost of the six P-8As is $2.1 billion (approximately 2.9017 trillion KRW), nearly 500 billion won per unit. The selling price of the P-8A includes the cost of training and education for pilots and other operating personnel, as well as logistics and support equipment.
Maritime Patrol Aircraft are military aircraft designed to perform various tasks over the sea. Their primary roles include reconnaissance and surveillance at sea, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, and search-and-rescue missions. Maritime patrol aircraft protect maritime boundaries, monitor sea lanes, and detect and neutralize enemy submarines and surface ships.
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