Overview
- The Justice Department filed a civil forfeiture complaint targeting two mission crew trainers intercepted in Singapore in November 2024 while en route to China.
- Prosecutors say the project, internally called Project Elgar, was meant to train PLA aircrews to locate and track U.S. submarines.
- Court filings allege the trainers incorporated U.S.-origin software and simulated systems resembling the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
- The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations back the seizure as necessary to keep sensitive American military technology from reaching an adversary.
- TFASA says the containers held only basic classroom workstations running licensed commercial software, and South Africa’s DIRCO says it is engaging the U.S. through diplomatic channels.