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reporter: my cnn team and i are the first to be allowed in the aircraft during an operational mission. it s an advanced surveillance aircraft but it s also a submarine killer. buoys are dropped in the water to track a submarine and the plane can be equipped with torpedos to destroy those submarines. up in this section are the eyes and ears. it has video cameras, fin from a red cameras to watch as china makes this enormous land grab in the south china sea creating really manufacturing real estate on the high seas creating islands like this one with an airstrip and a harbor. the fear of the pentagon is that china s militarizing these islands. we re out here patrolling just to monitor what s going on on these islands so mostly we come out here and look for what kind of construction activity is going on. the flight crew has just had ....
Tensions are rising between the u.s. and china over land grabs by the chinese in the south china sea. u.s. defense secretary ashton carter traveling in asia called on china to stop its expansion immediately. the u.s. is also using surveillance planes to keep an eye on what the chinese are doing. i got rare access, the chance to ride on one on a recent trip to the region. gentlemen, welcome aboard. thanks for having me. glad to have you. reporter: my cnn team and i are the first journalists to be allowed inside the p-8 poseidon aircraft during an operational mission. this is an enormously advanced surveillance aircraft but it s also a weapon. it s a submarine killer. these are sonar buoys dropped into the water to track submarines and the plane can be equipped with torpedoes to destroy those submarines. but principally today it s a surveillance aircraft. and up in this section are the plane s eyes and its ears. ....