http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #354 SEPTEMBER 2017 // 61
flight rules (IFR) equipment.
The first P-3 is expected to
emerge from the programme
in late 2018. All work should be
completed within eight years,
and will give each aircraft a
15,000-hour life extension.
The Marineflieger first deployed
the Orion on an international
mission in 2008, when a P-3C
replaced one of MFG 3’s Atlantics
in Operation Enduring Freedom
in the Horn of Africa. Flying
from Djibouti, the German
P-3Cs continued operations in
Enduring Freedom until 2010.
Since 2009, Marineflieger P-3Cs
have also taken part in the EU’s
Operation Atalanta in the same
area. Flying with the callsign
‘Jester’, an MFG 3 Orion most
recently operated from Djibouti
from early March to late June
this year, accumulating 386
flying hours in 46 missions.
The German Orions have
amassed 5,500-plus flying
hours in some 650 missions
in the operation.Dorniers
Apart from flying P-3Cs, MFG
3’s 2. Staffel also operates two
Dornier Do 228s. They are almost
exclusively tasked with detecting
oil and chemical pollution in
the North Sea and Baltic, but
can also be called on for SAR.
Although flown by the
Marineflieger, the Do 228s are
owned by the Bundesministerium
für Verkehr und digitale
Infrastructur (BMVI, Federal
Ministry for Traffic and
Digital Infrastructure) and
operated on behalf of the
Havariekommando, Germany’s
Central Command for MaritimeEmergencies, in Cuxhaven.
The Marineflieger began
operations with the Do 228LM,
a special-mission version of
the Do 228-212, in 1991. A
single Do 228LM (57+01)
operated alongside two Do
28OUs (‘oil units’) until the
latter retired in 1995.
A second Do 228LM (57+04)
joined in 1998. The oldest Do
228LM (57+01) was put up for
sale in 2012 and replaced by a Do
228NG (‘new generation’), which
has a glass cockpit and new five-
blade propellers that reduce
overall weight and improve
performance and endurance.
MFG 3 took delivery of the new
aircraft in late 2011. Pending
acceptance of all equipment
on board, it carried test serial
98+35 until re-serialled as
57+05 in March 2014.Converted to Do 228NG
standard in 2011, Do 228LM
57+04 kept its original sensor
suite, including a Swedish Space
Corporation side-looking airborne
radar (SLAR). Its antenna is
mounted in a pod under the
forward fuselage. The newly
delivered Do 228NG is equipped
with a different sensor suite
including a Terma SLAR, which
has two antennas mounted on
the forward fuselage sides.
A standard Do 228 crew
consists of two pilots and a
sensor operator, but can be
increased to five for specific
missions. Missions are flown
daily and can last up to 5 hrs,
30 mins. The aircraft and their
crews are available around-
the-clock at 2 hours’ notice and
the pair fly around 2,000 hours
annually. Kees van der MarkP-3C 60+06 was a participant in Joint Warrior 17/1 at RAF Lossiemouth, Moray, earlier this year. This biannual exercise is billed as the largest in Europe and
involves dozens of warships and submarines as well as MPAs. John Reid
AFM