Singapore’s defense ministry announced September 10 that it had selected Boeing’s P-8 Poseidon as the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s next maritime patrol aircraft.
The announcement was made following a meeting between Singaporean Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing and United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon, where Chan notified Hegseth of Singapore’s decision to procure four Poseidons.
Mr. Chan said the purchase was the first phase of a “refresh” of Singapore’s maritime security capabilities aimed to enhance Singapore’s maritime situation awareness and ability to counter sub-surface threats, adding in a video uploaded to his official Facebook page that further details on the purchase would be released in the “time to come”.
“And as we say, it’s not just a buyer seller relationship”, said Mr. Chan of Singaporean purchases of U.S. military equipment during his arrival at the Pentagon. “I think we work on it, work on real capabilities together, develop new capabilities, not just to manage existing challenges, but also to preempt new challenges”.
Mr. Chan’s predecessor Dr. Ng Eng Hen revealed in March that the Republic of Singapore Air Force had started exploring replacements for its fleet of five Fokker 50 maritime patrol aircraft, which have been in service since 1993.
During his remarks to lawmakers at the Committee of Supply debate, Dr. Ng said the Republic of Singapore Air Force was conducting evaluations of the P-8 Poseidon and Airbus’ C-295 maritime patrol aircraft at the time. Dr. Ng also confirmed the Singaporean Navy’s plans to procure an additional two Invincible-class attack submarines, with a contract signed with submarine builders TKMS (formerly ThysenKrupp Marine Systems) during the IMDEX exhibition in May.
Other regional operators of the P-8 include the Royal Australian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Republic of Korea Air Force, and the Indian Air Force.
Also in May, Boeing and ST Engineering signed a memorandum of understanding for collaboration on support for the P-8 Poseidon, including the possible creation of a regional service center for the maritime patrol aircraft.
A readout of the meeting by the Singaporean defense ministry said the two leaders “reaffirmed the excellent and longstanding bilateral defence relationship, and mutually beneficial partnership between Singapore and the US. Mr Chan reiterated Singapore’s support for the US’ continued engagement in the Asia-Pacific, in line with the 1990 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which was renewed in 2019 by President Trump and then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Both sides also exchanged views on security developments in the region”.
Mr. Chan is also scheduled to meet with United States Deputy National Security Advisor Andy Baker, Secretary of the Air Force Dr. Troy E. Meink, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, as well as members of Congress over the course of his visit to Washington D.C.
