US Sends Submarine-Hunting P-8 Poseidons To Japan Amid Escalating Tensions With China

Dispute over uninhabited islands intensifying

(Reuters)—The U.S. Navy's first advanced P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft has arrived in Japan, the start of a deployment that will upgrade America's ability to hunt submarines and other vessels in seas close to China as tension in the region mounts.

The deployment, planned before China last month established an air defense zone covering islands controlled by Japan and claimed by Beijing, includes six aircraft to be delivered to Kadena air base on Okinawa this month.