Germany acquires 5 five P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft

Boeing has anounced the signing of a contract with the US Navy to supply five P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) to the German Navy. Deliveries will start in 2024 and will be completed in February 2025.

The aircraft will replace the second hand P-3C bought from The Netherlands a few years ago. The cost is 756.6 million $. The aircraft are being procured via the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route, which estimated the contract at a much higher value (1,750 million $).

German Navy P-8 concept (Boeing).

The sale is a big success for the US industry against the European one. The German Navy had considered different proposals from European manufacturers (C295 and RAS 72 de Rheinland Air Service in MPA variants), but currently the P-8 Poseidon is the reference. It has flown more than 350,000 hours with 8 operators.

The acquisition casts a shadow of a doubt on the future MPA aircraft to be designed by Germany and France. It was supposed to replace both the German P-3C and French Atlantique 2. As a temporary solution France had offered Germany some Atlantique 2. On the other hand the German government has stated that the P-8 acquisition is a temporary solution, but US press releases state 30 years of operations.

References:

- https://www.defense.gov
- https://boeing.mediaroom.com
- http://www.opex360.com/

India acquires 56 transport aircraft Airbus C295

India has finally signed an agreement for the acquisition of 56 Airbus C295. These aircraft will replace the Indian Air Force (IAF) legacy AVRO fleet.

The first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Seville (Spain), while the other 40 will be manufactured and assembled by the Tata Advanced Systems (TASL).

Press release (Airbus).

The contract is the largest signed for the type, representing ~25% of total sales up to date. It will guarantee production for the next few years.

According to Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space “This contract will support the further development of India’s aerospace ecosystem, bringing investment and 15,000 skilled direct jobs and 10,000 indirect positions over the coming 10 years”.

References:

- https://www.airbus.com/

60 years since T-62 entry into service

This month Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) celebrates the 60th anniversary of T-62 entry into service. This model, developed as an improvement of T-54/55 while T-64 bugs were ironed out, was far more influential than expected. It was the first tank to use a smoothmore gun.

T-62 (vestnik-rm.ru).

The type is still in service, and not long ago Russia supplied a batch of T-62M to Syria, where it has proved to be a simple and reliable tank. When it was fielded  it was considered 15% superior to T-55 but only required 2% more manufacturing hours, 5855 vs 5723. Despite this small difference, it was far more expensive for export customers, and many chose to stick with T-55 by getting more advanced ammunition.

References:

- https://vestnik-rm.ru/