Navy completes acquisition of 6 P-8A maritime patrol aircraft
SEOUL, July 4 (Yonhap) -- The Navy completed its acquisition of six P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft on Thursday, with the multi-mission assets expected to bolster South Korea's anti-submarine capabilities against North Korean threats.
Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Yang Yong-mo, and key defense and regional officials joined a ceremony marking the delivery of the advanced aircraft at the Naval Air Command in Pohang, 262 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the Navy said.
"The P-8A will substantially contribute to the security readiness of the Republic of Korea, as a core asset that will neutralize enemy submarines and as a steadfast pillar of the maritime-based three-pronged deterrence system," said Rear Adm. (lower half) Ha Sung-wook, who heads the Naval Air Command.
The delivery came nearly six years after the state military acquisition agency launched a project to purchase the aircraft from U.S. defense firm Boeing through a government-to-government "foreign military sale" program. Three aircraft first arrived in the country on June 19, followed by the delivery of the remaining batch on June 30.
Dubbed the "submarine killer," the P-8A is capable of conducting an array of missions, including anti-submarine, anti-surface, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations. Its maximum speed is 907 kilometers per hour, compared with 749 kilometers per hour of P-3 maritime surveillance aircraft currently in operation.
It is armed with anti-ship guided missiles and torpedoes that can strike surface targets and submarines, as well as around 120 sonobuoys that can detect, identify and track enemy submarines, according to the Navy.
The Navy plans to deploy the P-8A next year following yearlong training and evaluation of its operational capabilities. It earlier dispatched personnel to the U.S. for 16-month training on operating the aircraft.
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