The Budget Committee of the German Bundestag (Federal Government) released €1.1bn of additional funding for the procurement of three more P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) for the German Navy on November 16.

The Bundestag had already approved the purchase of five P-8As – along with associated support services and equipment – in June 2021 and this new procurement will bring the German Navy’s future Poseidon fleet to eight aircraft in total. These P-8As will take over the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and maritime patrol duties from the service’s current P-3C Orion MPA from the end of 2024, with the Poseidon expected to significantly improve the German Navy’s ASW capabilities. Germany has already sold six P-3C Orion aircraft – along with spares, support equipment, flight simulators and Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) sets – to Portugal as second-hand assets, with deliveries slated to begin once the P-8A enters operational service.

Germany’s P-8A purchase is still considered to be an interim solution to meet current German requirements, which will be provided in the long-term by a solution developed under the Franco-German Maritime Airborne Warfare System (MAWS) project. A study for this was launched on December 22, 2022, by the French Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA; Directorate General of Armaments), with Airbus Defence and Space, and Dassault Aviation, having started a study of a future maritime patrol system, dubbed Patrouille Maritime (PatMar).