Airbus and Lockheed Martin to Upgrade German Navy’s P-3C Orion Fleet

The German Navy fleet of P-3C Orion anti-submarine warfare and maritime patrol aircraft will be rewinged with a Mid-Life Upgrade under an eight-year contract. This contract, which was awarded by the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology, and In-Service Support (BAAINBw), was won by Airbus Defense and Space and Lockheed Martin Overseas Services. The two companies have been contracted to upgrade a total of eight aircraft. Airbus Defense and Space is expected to install, integrate, and evaluate the Mid-Life Upgrade-K15 kits for the P-3C Orion aircraft. These kits will include an outer wing, horizontal stabilizer, and center fuselage. The new wings are part of a broader program of renovations for the German aircraft, which also includes an instrumental flight rules capability hike and mission avionics.

The P-3C maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft measures in at a length of 35.61 meters and has been designed to support missions such as surveillance and reconnaissance, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, as well as drug interdiction and search-and-rescue. This Mid-Life Upgrade, which is expected to span the course of eight years, will help to enable the proliferation of these maritime patrol aircraft. Initial deliveries are anticipated to take place in November of 2016.

Once installed, these new wings will extend the life of each German Navy P-3 by 15,000 hours per aircraft, which will allow the German Navy fleet to meet future mission requirements, said Mark Jarvis, the Lockheed Martin P-3 Programs director.

We look forward to working with Airbus to provide the German Navy, and specifically Naval Air Wing 3 at NAS Nordholz, the improved capability that these wings will provide.

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