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| US Navy P-8A Poseidon (File Photo) |
By Prashanth Parameswaran
Singapore has granted the United States permission to fly surveillance aircraft out of its territory.
In a joint statement after their meeting in Washington, D.C. on Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and visiting Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen welcomed the inaugural deployment of the U.S. P-8 Poseidon aircraft to Singapore from December 7 to December 14.
Singapore is no stranger to providing the United States access to its facilities. Singapore stepped in to support an American military presence following the closure of U.S. bases in the Philippines in 1991. U.S. littoral combat ships (LCS) are also already being deployed to Singapore, with the third deployment scheduled to take place in 2016.
The deployment of P-8s is significant because it provides Washington with another location in the region from which to stage surveillance flights. As I noted in a related piece, Washington already conducts such flights in other countries including Japan and the Philippines for various purposes, including monitoring China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea (See: “US, Singapore Ink New Defense Pact“).
Read the full story at The Diplomat