U.S. Sending Billions Worth Of Spy Planes To Japan And South Korea

US Navy P-8 Poseidon

Breaking Defense: U.S. Sending Billions Worth of P-8s, E-2Ds To Asian Allies

Japan and South Korea are getting new generations of sub-hunting and intelligence-gathering aircraft as China, North Korea, and Russia continue to push more assets into the waters of the Pacific.

WASHINGTON: The State Department has approved the $2.6 billion sale of six P-8A Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft and 64 Patriot anti-ballistic missile weapons to South Korea. It’s another sign that U.S. allies are stocking up on American military tech to counter China, while hedging against North Korea.

The Boeing-made Poseidon, used primarily for hunting submarines and flying reconnaissance missions over large swaths of ocean, will give the South Korean military a new capability in tracking North Korean submarines, which have harassed shipping in the region. In 2010, a suspected North Korean midget submarine sunk the Cheonan, a South Korean corvette, killing 46 seamen.

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WNU Editor: The Asian arms race continues.