The selection of the P-8 Poseidon emerged during a parliamentary interrogation after the United States approved a possible Foreign Military Sale of five aircraft to Germany.
The Bundesministerium der Verteidigung (BMVg), the German Federal Ministry of Defence, is looking to the Boeing P-8A Poseidon as the temporary replacement for its ageing fleet of Lockheed P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, according to Parliamentary State Secretary Thomas Silberhorn.
Silberhorn, as quoted by the German newspaper Behoerden Spiegel, answered to questions from Bundestag members, on behalf of the Federal Minister of Defence, about the proposals from Boeing and France.
The U.S. Department of State has already approved a possible Foreign Military Sale of five P-8 Poseidons to Germany in March 2021, for an estimated total cost of 1.77 billion USD. According to the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the German Government requested, together with the five P-8As, the Multifunctional Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio Systems 5 (MIDS JTRS 5), Northrop Grumman’s LN-251 Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System (INS/GPS), Wescam MX-20 EO/IR (Electro-Optical/InfraRed) imaging systems, AN/ AAQ-2(V) I Acoustic System, AN/APY-10 radar, ALQ-240 Electronic Support Measures, AN/ALQ-213 Electronic Counter Measures and NexGen Missile Warning Sensors.