Airforces

SURVEY European MPAs Part 1

T

Right: Another centennial aircraft,

P-3C 60+01 (c/n 5737) ‘Friedrichshafen’

was formerly NLD 301 in Koninklijke

Marine service. As well as eight

active Orions, a ninth example was

acquired as a ground instructional

airframe. Jamie Hunter

he MPAs of the Deutsche

Marine (German

Navy) are operated by

Marinefliegergeschwader (MFG,

Naval Air Wing) 3 ‘Graf Zeppelin’,

which has a mixed fleet of

eight P-3Cs and two Dornier Do

228s based at Nordholz near

Cuxhaven in northern Germany.

Today the Marineflieger (the

German Navy’s air arm) has only

a single air station left – since

late 2012, MFG 3 has shared

Nordholz with MFG 5, a helicopter

wing operating 22 Super Lynx

Mk88As and 21 Sea King Mk41s.

The Marineflieger acquired

eight P-3C-IIs, modified to

Capability Upkeep Program (CUP)

standard, from the Koninklijke

Marine (Royal Netherlands

Navy, RNLN) after the Dutch

defence ministry decided to

withdraw its 13-strong Orion

fleet by January 2005 because

of budgetary considerations.

Germany badly needed a

replacement for its 14 ageing

Breguet Atlantic MPAs and had

planned to acquire ten Orions,

while Portugal was also interested

in six RNLN P-3Cs. In a combined

deal, Germany eventually took

eight and Portugal five. The

Marineflieger also took over the

Dutch P-3C-II CUP flight simulator,

which now resides at Nordholz.

The P-3Cs entered service

with the Marineflieger in 2006

and are operated within MFG

3’s two Staffeln (squadrons),

which use them operationally

for ASW and ASuW, surveillance

and reconnaissance, including

overland missions.

German Orion operations

initially remained at a slow

pace, partly because aircrews

and technicians needed

time to qualify on the new

aircraft. The Marineflieger

has also suffered personnel

shortages for some years.

All aircraft were meanwhile

subject to depot-level

maintenance with Cassidian

(now Airbus Defence and Space)

in Manching, which at first

progressed slowly owing to a

lack of expertise on the type. So,

during its first ten

years in service, the

combined P-3C

fleet flew just

17,000 hours

• and only
  managed 2,000
  of the projected
  annual 3,500
  hours by

2013. With all
      aircraft now
      re-delivered
      to MFG 3, the

situation has, however, improved.

The Marineflieger took delivery

of a ninth P-3C-II in July 2011.

This former US Navy Orion

(ex 161007, now 60+22) has

been grounded since its arrival

at Nordholz and is used as

an instructional airframe.

Upgrade

In July 2015 the German

government contracted Airbus

Defence and Space and

Lockheed Martin to put the

Orions through an extensive

MLU programme, enabling the

type to continue in service until

at least 2035 rather than 2025.

Carried out by Airbus at

Manching, the work includes

replacement of the outer wings,

centre fuselage and horizontal

stabilisers and an upgrade of

both the mission and instrument

60 // SEPTEMBER 2017 #354 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

ORBAT

Unit Aircraft Base

Marine-

fl iegerge-

schwader 3

‘Graf Zeppelin’

P-3C,

Do

228NG

Nordholz

Inventory

Aircraft Number

P-3C 8

Do 228NG 2

MFG 3’s latest Do 228LM wearing the test serial 98+35. It was later re-serialled as 57+05. The type’s primary mission is

to detect oil and chemical pollution in the North Sea and Baltic. Peter ten Berg

Germany

Orions going through MLU