TENSION RISING: U.S. deploys Submarine-Hunting Jets to disputed air defence zone over East China Sea as tensions rise with China

Tensions: U.S. Navy FA-18 Hornets cram the flight deck of the USS George Washington during a joint military exercise with Japan, last week, in the Pacific Ocean as the territorial row over the disputed islands intensified. (File photo)

The spokesman for the US Navy on Monday said the first advanced P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft had arrived in Japan and  its deployment would upgrade America’s ability to hunt submarines.

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

The first patrol aircraft arrived on Sunday, a spokesman for the US Navy told Reuters that the mission in the waters west of Japan’s main islands would be the new aircraft’s first anywhere.

The jet, built by Boeing Co based on its 737 passenger plane, is to replace the aging propeller-powered Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion patrol aircraft, which has been in service for 50 years.

Packed with the latest radar equipment and armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, the P-8 could fly further and stay out on mission longer than the P-3.

However, the arrival of the P-8 came a day before US Vice President Joe Biden is due to arrive in Tokyo, a visit that is being overshadowed by territorial argument in the East China Sea between Japan and China.