MPA - Airbus på hogget overfor Tyskland med interimsløsning - FlightGlobal

Fixed-Wing

Airbus eyeing interim German P-3C fleet replacement need

By Craig Hoyle 4 August 2020

Airbus Defence & Space is pursuing an opportunity to provide Germany with an interim maritime patrol aircraft capability, after Berlin axed a delayed modernisation of its Lockheed P-3C Orion fleet.

As a short-term solution, the Defense Ministry is examining platforms to bring into service by 2025. These include the C-295 Persuader MPA variant from Airbus, the Rheinland Air Service (RAS) 72 Sea Eagle, and the P-8A Poseidon from U.S. aerospace giant Boeing.

Notably absent from the list of alternatives put out via press release by the German Defense Ministry on June 17 is the Kawasaki Heavy Industries P-1 now in service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) being pitched by Kawasaki globally as a potential MPA solution.

Germany’s longer-term MPA solution will most likely be found via the Maritime Airborne Warfare System development program, set to be undertaken jointly by France and Germany post-2025 with an eye on achieving a new maritime patrol capability by 2030. The two countries signed a letter of intent (LOI) to develop this capability at the ILA exhibition in Berlin in April 2018 and have already have agreed to award manufacturers a two-year common requirements study determining the technical and financial elements involved.