Germany’s first Boeing P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine warfare aircraft has arrived at its permanent home.

The 737-based jet was flown to Berlin-Brandenberg airport on 7 November by a flight crew from Germany’s Naval Aviation Squadron 3, who ferried the aircraft from Boeing’s delivery centre in the USA.

German defence minister Boris Pistorius was on hand for the flight’s arrival, which marks the first of eight P-8As ordered by Berlin to replace the aged Lockheed P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft.

“Today, our naval aviators are literally switching from propeller to jet propulsion,” says Pistorius, who describes the Poseidon’s arrival as a new era for German naval aviation.

“We are introducing a fully digitised weapon system with state-of-the-art sensor technology,” he notes. “Logistically… we can also maintain the aircraft for the civil industry.”

Boeing had formally delivered Germany’s inaugural Poseidon example in October at the airframer’s Washington state P-8A assembly and delivery centre outside Seattle.

Germany’s P-8A fleet will be based at Nordholz naval air base on the country’s North Sea coast. Boeing is set to hand over the remaining seven jets by 2029.

The Bundeswehr says the first cohort of German navy P-8A crews spent six months training with their American counterparts in Jacksonville, Florida to get certificated on the type. Additional personnel are expected to continue instruction in the USA through mid-2026, after which Germany will stand up its own training programme.

The introduction of the P-8A represents a significant capability enhancement for the German navy, which was down to a single 43-year-old P-3C as of this year.

Fleets data from aviation analytics company Cirium indicates Berlin retired another P-3C in 2020, while a third aircraft was damaged beyond repair that same year during a refuelling accident.

Germany’s final serviceable P-3C (registration number 60+03) is scheduled to be transferred to the Portuguese air force in December, according to Cirium.

The new P-8A fleet will feature a range of sensors and weapons systems, including radar, video and acoustic sensors for reconnaissance both above and below the water surface. Each jet also includes a digital communication system for the real-time exchange of submarine track data with allied ships and aircraft.

As far as armaments, Berlin says its first P-8A will be equipped with US-made torpedoes and depth charges, while unspecified anti-ship missiles will be added “at a later date”.

“In the medium term, Sting Ray torpedoes from Great Britain are also to be added,” the Bundeswehr adds.

The UK Royal Air Force began integrating the BAE Systems Sting Ray Mod 1 into its fleet of nine P-8As in 2023.

Berlin says it plans to deploy the future Poseidon fleet in support of NATO maritime patrol efforts over the North Atlantic and in particular the so-called Greenland-Iceland-UK (GIUK) gap.

That strategic choke point is a key section of ocean for detecting Russian submarines attempting to approach the North American coastline or threaten allied naval convoys coming from the USA and Canada.

Germany says its growing P-8A fleet will also be used to help protect infrastructure in the North Sea and Baltic Sea.

With an unrefuelled combat radius of 1,080nm (2,000km), German P-8As will be able to provide coverage of numerous key waterways, including the Danish Straits, Baltic Sea, North Sea, and portions of the GIUK gap.

The German aircraft will supplement P-8A fleets operated by other NATO members including Norway, the UK and the USA. Canada has also signed on to field the anti-submarine warfare jet.

Elsewhere in the world, Australia, India, New Zealand and South Korea also operate the P-8A.