P-8A Poseidon monitoring the Gulf of Aden... The ‘submarine killer’ of the sky

The nickname of the state-of-the-art maritime patrol aircraft ‘P-8A Poseidon’, which the government decided to dispatch additionally to the Cheonghae Unit on the 5th, is ‘Submarine Killer’.

The core mission is to find and attack submarines hiding beneath the surface while flying over the ocean.

It is a commercial aircraft Boeing 737 modified for military use. It is approximately 40m long, 38m wide, and 13m high, and is equipped with two turbofan (jet) engines, allowing it to fly at a maximum speed of over 900km/h.

According to military authorities, the operational radius is about 1,200 nautical miles (about 2,160 km), and the mission performance time is about 4 hours.

It is faster than the Navy's existing main patrol aircraft, the P-3 (749 km/h), which uses a propeller engine, and has a wider operational radius, making it advantageous for long-distance operations.

The P-8A detects enemy submarines with state-of-the-art surveillance and reconnaissance equipment.

The P-8A's greatest pride is its long-range

In particular, the P-8A detects the location of submarines by capturing underwater noise with a 'sonobuoy' (acoustic detection buoy) dropped into the sea. This method calculates the location and movement path of the enemy submarine by analyzing the signal sent by the sonobuoy to the patrol aircraft. The P-8A can carry up to 120 such sonobuoys.

It can also be equipped with Harpoon anti-ship missiles or torpedoes that can hit enemy ships.

However, in this deployment, in accordance with the principle of not participating in engagements or battles, the aircraft will be flown equipped only with self-defense systems such as flash bombs instead of attack weapons.

The Cheonghae Unit's P-8A will be responsible for reconnoitering the operational area from the Gulf of Aden area, where the number of pirates has increased rapidly, to the southern ocean of Oman (the southern end of Dukum Port) and detecting abnormal signs in advance around our shipping routes.

The mission is carried out under the principle of not detecting Iranian territory, territorial waters, or the inside of the Strait of Hormuz.

A total of 45 P-8A-related personnel, including pilots, are dispatched to the Cheonghae unit this time, including the command staff. The P-8A carries 9 people per mission.

The United States, Japan, France, and Spain are also constantly deploying patrol aircraft in Djibouti, East Africa, which is being considered as a base, and the military is expecting synergies in exchange and cooperation, such as sharing pirate information.

In addition to the P-8A, the Cheonghae unit will additionally be equipped with unmanned minesweeping forces such as unmanned surface vehicles (USV), unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), and underwater exploration vehicles (ROV), as well as explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) units.

Among these, unmanned surface vehicles (USV) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) are key unmanned minesweeping (removal of dangerous objects such as mines) equipment to proactively search for and remove underwater mines.

The USV controls and supports unmanned forces on the surface of the water and assists mine removal operations, while the UUV dives underwater to precisely search for mines in the deep sea and dangerous areas.

Additionally, an underwater unmanned aerial vehicle (ROV) will be deployed underwater and will be responsible for installing bombs with a robotic arm or checking mines through video.

The military plans to dispatch these latest unmanned forces in preparation for uncertainties in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait area, such as engagement with Houthi rebels, and considering the worst-case scenario.

You will master operational capabilities through joint training with multinational maritime forces at the Djibouti base.