“About these not being considered a threat, they are still capable of carrying anti-ship and anti-sub weapons, so that’s technically a threat.”
Yea!Your Right.All the more reason to add AMRAAM’s to the armament or have those F-18’s nearby babysitting them.
There is No reason to have them flying near China defenseless.
Adding an AMRAAM is easy. Using it effectively may not be. You’d need a big fat radar for it. Im not sure if the P-8’s radar is optimized for it as its most likely dedicated for the littoral, surface surveillance role.