PM admits US military in Tobago, assisting with radar surveillance upgrades

Speaking to reporters after distributing laptops at the Penal Secondary School yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said she has confirmed that US troops are still in the country and have been assisting with surveillance upgrades in Tobago.Persad-Bissessar’s confirmation came after members of the public reported seeing US Marines at a popular Tobago hotel in recent days.

Flight-tracking platforms also detected military aircraft landing at ANR Robinson International Airport, prompting increasing questions about the presence and activities of US personnel.She explained their work includes infrastructure and security support.“They’re helping with the runway and the road and a radar,” she explained, adding that the installation will “help us to improve our surveillance and the intelligence of the radar for the narco-traffickers in our waters.”

On Wednesday, Persad-Bissessar claimed there were no US Marines in the country as all of them had left. Around 350 troops with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit had been in this country from November 16 to 21 to conduct joint training exercises with the T&T Defence Force. But when pressed about the Marines in Tobago, the Prime Minister said, “On further inquiries, yes, in Tobago, there are some. US Marines are there, and they’re helping us with the airport.”

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So why did the past government have a big gala opening of Tobago airport when it wasn't ready?

The goat farmer wanted his name on a plaque...?🙄

Resisted by Grenada, radar spotted in Tobago: As 4th US aircraft flies in

Last night a US Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III (01-0192) was seen on detection site FlightRadar24 arriving in Tobago overnight at the ANR Robinson International Airport from the and originating from the US Marine Corp Air Station in Cherry Point, North Carolina. It departed around at 4.a.m to the New York Stewart International Airport which it landed in at 7.40.a.m.It can provide 360-degree total surveillance for air and missile defense, fire control, and air traffic control, it said. It can deliver information for air defense weapons to destroy airborne threats including cruise missiles, hypersonic missiles, ballistic missiles, manned aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Earlier this month the Grenada government said it was reviewing a request from the United States to establish radar at its airport.Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell in a statement to Parliament said that the US had requested a response for their question by a specific time, which that government was not able to meet.“For the simple reason that…from a technical point of view, we are not in a position to satisfy ourselves as to safety and other technical requirements, as to whether or not such equipment is properly optically at the airport.

“The other fundamental issue that we have to consider, Mister Speaker, is the fact that Grenada has no military, and therefore our cooperation with the US has always been in the context of law enforcement and in the context of our own domestic law and in the context of international law,” he had said.