Boeing has handed over the German navy’s first P-8A Poseidon to Berlin’s BAAINBw defence procurement body, ahead of the maritime patrol aircraft’s expected transfer to Europe during November.
Accepted in Seattle, Washington on 1 October, the modified narrowbody is the first of eight P-8As on order for Germany, which will field the type in place of its departing Lockheed Martin P-3C Orions.
Berlin ordered five P-8As in June 2021, before signing for a further three examples in November 2023.
Once introduced, the Poseidon fleet will be employed for maritime surveillance, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare tasks, along with providing support for search and rescue activities.
The BAAINBw says it is “conducting final quality checks and acceptance tests, so that the [lead] P-8A can be transferred to Nordholz, Germany, probably next month”.
Germany will follow fellow European NATO members Norway and the UK in fielding the P-8A, with those nations respectively having five and nine examples in use.
Data from aviation analytics company Cirium shows that the German navy currently has only two P-3Cs in service. Berlin has already sold six of its surplus Orions, plus spare parts and a simulator, to Portugal.
