Boeing delivers first Poseidon to Germany, ahead of transfer to Marineflieger

The first of 12 P-8A Poseidon MMAs for Germany was formally handed over during a ceremony in the US on 1 October. (Boeing)

Boeing has delivered to the Bundeswehr the first P-8A Poseidon multimission maritime aircraft (MMA), ahead of its transfer to the German Navy (Marineflieger).

Aircraft 63+01 (the Bundeswehr assigned 60 to its Lockheed P-3C Orion predecessor, with 63 now denoting the P-8A and 01 denoting the first such aircraft) was formally handed over during a ceremony at Boeing's Puget Sound production facility near Seattle on 1 October. It will be transferred to the Naval Aviation Squadron in Nordholz in the coming weeks.

The Marineflieger is contracted to receive eight Poseidon MMAs, with the German government having increased the original order for five in November 2023. This increase is part of a wider uplift in the national defence budget, specifically the EUR100 billion (USD118 billion) Söndervermögen (special fund) uplift following Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. German national media has previously said that as many as seven more aircraft might be added for a final fleet of 12, although this now seems unlikely given wider budgetary pressures.

With modernisation of the Marineflieger's eight Orion maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) halted because of cost and technical difficulties, the Poseidon is officially being acquired as a stopgap measure until a long-term replacement is decided on.