TSAMTO, July 2. Boeing Corporation announced the signing of a letter by the German Defense Ministry with the proposal and acceptance of an offer to supply five P-8A Poseidon BPA aircraft under the Foreign Military Sales program.
Thus, Germany became the eighth customer of this aircraft, joining the United States, Australia, India, Great Britain, Norway, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand.
As reported by TSAMTO, in June 2020, the German Federal Ministry of Defense announced the rejection of plans to modernize the existing P-3C Orion BPA aircraft, pointing to high costs and technical difficulties. At the same time, the command of the German Armed Forces announced that it was conducting a market study to evaluate all available platforms.
As alternatives, in particular, the C-295 "Persuder" of Airbus, the RAS-72 "Sea Eagle" (a variant of the ATR-72 modification of Rheinland Air Service GmbH), the Atlantic-2 from the French Navy, as well as the P-8A "Poseidon" were considered.
Taking into account Germany's intentions to jointly develop a new BPA aircraft under the MAWS (Maritime Airborne Warfare System) program by 2035, the P-8A Poseidon was recognized as the optimal solution as a temporary replacement for the outdated P-3C Orion. Preliminary delivery of aircraft is planned for the first half of 2025.
In March 2021, the US State Department approved the potential supply to Germany under the Foreign Military Sales program of 5 P-8A Poseidon base patrol aircraft, MX-20HD multispectral electro-optical / infrared (EO/IR) surveillance stations, AN/AAQ-2(V)1 acoustic systems, AN/APY-10 radar, as well as other related equipment and services. The full value of the agreement was estimated at $ 1.77 billion.
The Budget Committee of the German Parliament approved the allocation of funds in the amount of 1.4 billion rubles. euro for the purchase of five P-8A Poseidon aircraft on June 23, 2021.
The delivery project provides for the use of the capacities of German enterprises. Among the German companies that already supply components for the P-8A: Aljo Aluminum-Bau Jonischeit GmbH and Nord-Micro GmbH. Recently, Boeing has signed agreements with ESG Elektroniksystem-und Logistik-GmbH and Lufthansa Technik to explore potential areas of cooperation in the field of system integration, training and support.
