MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho – The four Boeing P-8A Maritime Patrol Aircraft to be acquired by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are expected to come into service in the early 2030s.

Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing said this at

Exercise Forging Sabre

in Mountain Home, Idaho, on Sept 13 (Singapore time).

Mr Chan said the aircraft will boost Singapore’s situational awareness amid a more congested maritime security environment.

This was the last stop of Mr Chan’s first official visit to the US as Defence Minister from Sept 9 to 13.

It included a

visit to F-35 developer Lockheed Martin’s production facility

in Texas, and meetings with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and other political leaders.

The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) announced the

acquisition of the P-8As

on Sept 10 to replace its ageing Fokker-50 maritime patrol aircraft. They have been in service for more than 30 years. Mr Chan said the evaluation process for a replacement lasted several years.

He said: “We are focused not just on the platform per se, but the capabilities. The capability we want is to enhance our situational awareness for the maritime security environment. The environment has evolved quite a lot over the past many years. It...