Asked by a parliamentarian about the replacement of the P3 Orion maritime patrol planes still in service with the German forces, the representative of the Ministry of Defense to the Bundestag, Thomas Silberhorn, declared that the ministry did not consider the French offer for an interim solution based on the loan of 4 Atlantic 2 aircraft from the French Navy as a solution adapted to the needs of the German armed forces in this area, while the acquisition of 5 Boeing P8A Poseidon meets the operational expectations of the German General Staff. According to him, negotiations for the acquisition of these devices, a contract valued by the US Foreign Military Sales at $ 1,77 billion, could be successful and lead to the signing of the order by the middle of the year.
This statement, if it does not represent a final decision of the German authorities on this question, nevertheless gives very strong indications concerning the current tendency in Berlin concerning this program. Because beyond the purely symbolic aspects of Franco-German cooperation, and the likely impacts of such a decision on the future of the future Maritime Air Warfare System program, or MAWS, to design and build the replacement for the French and German maritime patrol planes in 2035, the German positions are based on a relatively objective assessment of the situation, which was not in favor of the French interim solution.
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