Navy Sending Second P-8 Warplane to Hunt for MH370 in Indian Ocean

The plane, which specializes in anti-submarine surveillance, will fly from Perth, Australia.

Image: A U.S. Navy Boeing Poseidon P8 sits on display at the Singapore Airshow

A U.S. Navy Boeing Poseidon P8 sits on display at the Singapore Airshow February 11, 2014. The star attraction at Asia's biggest arms and aerospace bazaar is an outwardly unassuming aircraft parked in a distant corner of the tarmac, past the sleek jet fighters and menacing attack helicopters. The operational P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft is on public display for the first time, with its manufacturer, Boeing hoping for rich sales in a region that has two of the world's most tense maritime disputes. Picture taken February 11, 2014.EDGAR SU / Reuters, file

March 27, 2014, 5:23 PM UTC

The U.S. Navy is sending a second warplane to join the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

The plane is a P-8, which has a long range and specializes in surveillance of targets on and below the surface of water. It joins another Navy P-8. Both will fly out of Perth, Australia, to search the Indian Ocean.

Defense officials also said Thursday that the Navy is pulling a P-3 aircraft that was flying search missions over the Bay of Bengal. It will return to its base in Japan.

— Jim Miklaszewski