Additional Poseidons for German Navy
On 16 November 2023, Budget Committee of the German Bundestag released funds (euro 1,1 billion) for the procurement of three additional Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for the German Navy bringing the total to eight aircraft.
In June 2021, the Bundestag (German parliament) had already approved the purchase of five Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft plus associated support and related equipment.
The Poseidon will take over submarine hunting and maritime reconnaissance from the P-3C Orion from the end of 2024. The purchase is still considered as an interim solution as in the long term, these capabilities are to be covered by the German-French cooperation project Maritime Airborne Warfare System (MAWS).
On 22 December 2022, the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) gave a boost to the Maritime Airborne Warfare System (MAWS) programme by notifying the aircraft manufacturers Airbus Defence & Space and Dassault Aviation to start a study of a future maritime patrol system (PatMar, Patrouille Maritime).
However, time will tell if the German-French cooperation will indeed continue.
Image by Boeing Defense