P-8A patrol plane draws broad interest among US allies -Pentagon

WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) - American allies including Norway and Singapore have expressed interest in acquiring Boeing's P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol plane, Deputy U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Work said on Friday ahead of visit by a British counterpart expected to focus on a proposed P-8A purchase.

"There's a lot of interest from our allies," Work said in an interview.

"Norway would like to buy them. The Singaporeans have indicated they have an interest. So it's just a great, great airplane."

The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which oversees foreign arms sales, notified Congress last month that it approved the sale of up to nine P-8A Poseidon aircraft to Britain in a deal valued at up to $3.2 billion.

Britain announced its intention to buy the submarine-hunting patrol planes in November as part of a plan to increase defense and security spending by 12 billion pounds ($16.95 billion) to 178 billion pounds ($251.43 billion) over the next decade.

Next week, Work will host Britain's Minister of State for Defence Procurement, Philip Dunne, and together visit U.S. Navy's P-8A Integrated Training Center at Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Andrew hay)

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