The Navy awarded Boeing [BA] a $757 million modification on Sept. 27 to produce and deliver five Lot 12 P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for Germany.
Boeing noted the first deliveries are planned to start in 2024 and work will be finished by February 2025.
This award is exercising an option on a previously awarded contract. The work will largely be split between Seattle (98.15 percent) and Huntington Beach, Calif. (1.10 percent).
The full funding of $757 million in Foreign Military Sales funds was obligated at the time of award, with none of it expiring at the end of this fiscal year.
Germany will use the Posiedons to replace its fleet of Lockheed Martin [LMT] P-3C Orion aircraft.
“We’re pleased to have finalized this sale to Germany and to expand our footprint in-country by bringing the P-8A and its unique multi-mission capabilities to the German Navy. The P-8 will ensure the German Navy’s ability to perform long-range maritime surveillance missions and will play a pivotal role in the region by leveraging existing infrastructure in Europe and full interoperability with NATO’s most advanced assets,” Michael Hostetter, vice president of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, Germany said in a statement.
In June, Germany signed a letter of offer and acceptance to procure the five P-8As under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program (FMS). That government said the deal was worth about $1.3 billion (Defense Daily, June 30).
The German P-8A order is an interim solution for Germany’s needs until a separate cooperative program between Germany and France, the Maritime Airborne Warfare Systems (MAWS), is ready. MAWS is not expected to produce the desired aircraft until at least 2035, thus the Poseidon order’s use until then.
Last March, the U.S. State Department approved a potential $1.7 billion FMS for five P-8As to Germany. In the announcement, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Germany planned to retire the current fleet of P-3Cs in 2024 (Defense Daily, March 12).
Boeing said German industry will be a “critical partner” for the P-8A.
Also in June, Boeing inked agreements with ESG Elektroniksystem- und Logistik-GmbH and Lufthansa Technik outlining joint efforts to support the then-potential German P-8A procurement (Defense Daily, June 17).
Boeing said German companies that already currently supply parts for the P-8A include Aircraft Philipp Group GmbH, Aljo Aluminium-Bau Jonuscheit GmbH and Nord-Micro GmbH.
“With strategic agreements and industry partnerships already in place, we stand ready to deliver a robust sustainment package for the German Navy’s P-8A fleet. Together with the German Navy, the Federal Ministry of Defense and local industry, we will ensure maximum operational availability that will allow the German Navy to meet the full range of its maritime challenges,” Michael Haidinger, president of Boeing Germany, Central & Eastern Europe, Benelux and Nordics, added.
The German Poseidon purchase makes it the eighth customer for the aircraft after the U.S., Australia, India., New Zealand, Norway, South Korea and the United Kingdom.