Chan was in Washington this week to meet his counterpart, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, at the Pentagon and shared Singapore’s decision to procure the aircraft that would replace the existing Fokker 50s, which had been in service since 1993.
The P-8A maritime patrol aircraft is designed for maritime patrol and equipped with anti-submarine warfare capabilities. It was developed based on the Boeing 737-800 commercial aircraft and is operated by nine other countries including South Korea, India and Australia.
Calling Singapore an “anchor of US friendship and presence in the region”, Hegseth said: “Our relationship has been crucial to regional stability and maintaining deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.”
Singapore’s defence ministry on Wednesday also provided an update on the 20 F-35 fighter jets the city state had acquired from the US, with Chan saying production had commenced and the jets were on track for delivery by the end of 2026.
In February last year, Singapore announced it planned to order an additional eight F-35A jets, bringing the country’s fleet to 20. It had earlier ordered 12 vertical take-off and landing version F-35Bs and eight conventional version F-35As.
