US mainstay of Taiwan Strait patrols, the P-8, in spotlight at Paris Air Show

The US has highlighted its freedom of navigation operations at the Paris Air Show, with a display of the Poseidon P-8 maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft deployed in the Taiwan Strait and other geopolitical flashpoints.

US Navy mission commander Lieutenant Joseph Pitts, who captains a P-8 patrol plane, told reporters that freedom of navigation within international waters was at the core of his aircraft’s mission set.

“We ensure that the international laws are being upheld, and that’s kind of our primary mission whenever we’re operating within all the AORs [area of responsibility],” he said in response to the South China Morning Post’s inquiry about the P-8’s role in the region.

Pitts said he had been posted in “pretty much every fleet [and] a little bit all over the world”, including with the seventh fleet that operates in the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently, he was based in Japan.

The deployment of the P-8 by US allies was helping to boost interoperability, he said. “And especially the fellow P-8 platforms, helping, working with them, see what’s the best way to operate this aircraft in the best state there could be.”

The Boeing P-8 is also used for anti-submarine and surface warfare missions. It is armed with torpedoes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and sonobuoys – which are dropped from aircraft or ships to detect and track submarines and underwater threats.