S. Korea, allies to repair US P-8 aircraft in Indo-Pacific under new project
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday announced a set of defense cooperation projects, including one that will enable South Korea to repair P-8 maritime patrol aircraft in the Indo-Pacific rather than relying on a repair destination in the U.S. mainland.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defense forum in Singapore, Hegseth unveiled the first set of projects under the Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience (PIPIR), a U.S.-initiated forum of 14 allies and partners aimed at strengthening defense industrial resilience and expanding related capacities, News.Az reports, citing Yonhap.
"The first project plans to establish repair capability and capacity for P-8 radar systems in Australia," Hegseth said.
"This will enable Indo-Pacific allies and partners operating the aircraft, including New Zealand and the Republic of Korea (ROK), to repair aircraft within the region rather than relying on a single repair source in the continental United States," he added. ROK is short for South Korea's official name.
The second PIPIR project is one designed to develop standards for small unmanned aerial systems across the Indo-Pacific, identify secure sources of production for their critical components and increase global supply chain resilience for the systems, the secretary said.
Hegseth also said that the U.S. will use allies' ship repair capabilities "to enhance the U.S. Navy's operational effectiveness and to save taxpayer money."
"These moves will strengthen regional resiliency by increasing access to repair capabilities in theater and reducing dependency on distant supply chains," he said.
Washington has been seeking to bolster defense industrial cooperation with Indo-Pacific allies and partners as it is seeking to address geographic constraints that could figure prominently in the event of a contingency involving China.
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