The first of the German Navy’s eight new Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft is set to be delivered this month.
And as per a recent German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) press statement, ahead of the first aircraft arriving in Germany, the U.S. Navy has been training crews in Florida for the past six months. The last crews are expected to complete their training in Jacksonville by mid-2026.
Back in June 2021, Germany signed a $1.77bn contract for the procurement of an initial five P-8A Poseidons from Boeing via a Foreign Military Sales agreement; the agreement was adjusted to include three additional aircraft in November 2023 for an estimated additional $1.27bn.
The new aircraft are set to be based at the Bundeswehr’s Naval Aviation Squadron in Nordholz, Lower Saxony.
The P-8As are replacing the Bundeswehr’s fleet of P-3C Orions; of its initial eight planes, only two are still flying, and these are soon due to be retired.
The P8-A aircraft are designed for a range of missions including anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), search and rescue (SAR), and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).
They can drop and monitor sonobuoys and are armed with five torpedoes; they can also carry Harpoon anti-ship missiles as well as other weapons systems. The variants bought by the Bundeswehr also carry an infrared anti-missile self-protection system.
More than 160 Poseidons are currently in operation worldwide. As well as the USA, other operators include the U.K., Norway, Australia, India, South Korea, and New Zealand.
- You can read more details on the Bundeswehr website