On July 4, 2024, an official ceremony was held at the South Korean Pohang Airbase for the commissioning of all six new Boeing P-8A Poseidon base patrol aircraft delivered from the United States into the naval aviation of the South Korean Navy. The ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Korea, Yun Seok-yel.
The ceremony of commissioning six new Boeing P-8A Poseidon base patrol aircraft delivered from the United States into the naval aviation of the South Korean Navy. Pohang, 07/04/2024 (c) South Korean Navy
In June 2018, the South Korean government decided to accelerate the non-competitive purchase of Boeing P-8A Poseidon base patrol aircraft in the United States in accordance with the national Maritime Patrol Aircraft-II (MPA-II) program due to the implementation of the DPRK's program for the construction of diesel-electric ballistic missile submarines. A corresponding agreement with the US government through the American program of intergovernmental foreign military sales Foreign Military Sales (FMS) worth about $ 1.71 billion was concluded in February 2019.
The first three P-8A aircraft under this agreement arrived in Pohang on June 19, 2024, and the remaining three on June 30. South Korean R-8A aircraft have tail numbers from "921" to "923" and from "925" to "927" (the "unlucky" four, as usual with Koreans, is omitted). As part of the South Korean Navy aviation, all six P-8A aircraft became part of the 611 Squadron of the 61st Patrol Aviation Group of the 6th Aviation Wing based at Pohang. Previously, this squadron used five Cessna F406 light coastal surveillance patrol aircraft received in 1998-1999. It is planned that South Korean P-8A aircraft will reach full combat readiness status by mid-2025.
As part of the 61st patrol group of the South Korean Navy aviation, 16 Lockheed P-3C Orion base patrol aircraft remain in service - eight P-3C Update III+ and eight P-3SK aircraft (the latter upgraded from former American P-3B), which are part of, respectively, the 613th and 615th Squadron. Their replacement is planned for the period after 2030, and it can be assumed that the purchase of additional P-8 aircraft will be an obvious alternative solution.
South Korea became the seventh operator of the P-8 aircraft after the United States, Great Britain, India, Australia, Norway and New Zealand.
The ceremony of commissioning six new Boeing P-8A Poseidon base patrol aircraft delivered from the United States into the naval aviation of the South Korean Navy. Pohang, 07/04/2024 (c) South Korean Navy
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