New Poseidons get off to flying start in German service.
The German navy displayed a Boeing P-8A Poseidon at an ILA Berlin air show for the first time last week, as it continues to build its operational capability and fleet strength with the new maritime patrol aircraft (MPA).
Sporting the service registration 63+01, the heavily modified 737NG airframe on static display during the 10-14 June event was the first of three examples delivered to Nordholz air base since last November. Assigned to Naval Air Wing 3, they form part of what will by late this decade be an eight-strong complement.
Captain Broder Nielsen, commander of the German naval aviation command, says the country’s next two examples will arrive in northern Germany “by the autumn” of this year, with the rest to follow by 2028.
Speaking in front of the jet on 11 June, Nielsen noted that within months of its lead P-8A touching down in Germany, the navy in February deployed one of the aircraft to participate in an MPA exercise in India.
The aircraft has more recently participated in an exercise in Sicily, and worked alongside UK Royal Air Force P-8As based at Lossiemouth in Scotland.
“The results have been highly encouraging,” Nielsen says. “The aircraft has performed exceptionally well. Its sensors, mission system and network capabilities provided outstanding situational awareness, enabling our crews to contribute effectively to multinational maritime operations.
“The feedback from our crews and our partners has been overwhelmingly positive,” he adds.
“The successful introduction of the P-8 has been possible through close cooperation with industry, allied nations and the broader P-8 community,” Nielsen notes.
He highlights exchange and training activities conducted with fellow Poseidon users Australia, New Zealand, Norway, the UK and the US Navy, and future operator Canada, as having helped to smooth the type’s service entry.
“As German naval aviation, our primary operational focus lies in the North Atlantic, the North Sea and the Baltic area. These regions are of vital importance to NATO, and remain central to collective deterrence and defence,” he says.
“After eight months, our assessment is pretty clear,” Nielsen adds. “The P-8 ‘Alpha’ Poseidon has proven itself to be a highly capable and operationally relevant platform. It has already demonstrated its value during international deployments and complex anti-submarine exercises.
“Building a fully operational maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare [capability] is a continuous process, but the progress we achieved in such a short time gives us every reason for confidence,” he says. “The P-8 is already making a meaningful contribution to German naval aviation, the German navy and to NATO’s collective maritime security. We have made an excellent start, and I’m convinced the best is yet to come.”
Germany plans to equip P-8As with systems enabling the type to perform crewed-uncrewed teaming operations involving the German navy’s on-order General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9B SeaGuardians, Nielsen adds. Berlin early this year announced a contract to acquire eight of the remotely-piloted, medium-altitude, long-endurance type, with deliveries to Nordholz to start in 2028.
Asked whether Berlin might exercise an option to receive an additional three Poseidons, Nielsen quips: “You never could fill my operational demand – if you give me 10, 12, I would ask you to give me some more.”
The German navy is introducing P-8As as replacements for already-retired Lockheed Martin P-3C Orions. Those aged assets were sold and transferred to NATO ally Portugal.
Beyond the new type’s leap in operational performance, Michael von Puttkamer, Lufthansa Technik vice-president of special aircraft service, points to the P-8A’s impact on the German company’s maintenance and support business.
“For Lufthansa Technik it is also a special moment, because it is the first weapon-carrying system we have had in our hangars,” he says. “For no other jobs do I get that many applications from my team.”
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