The first technicians tasked with supporting the German navy’s future fleet of Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft are mid-way through a course being delivered via Lufthansa Technical Training.
Parent company Lufthansa Technik says the activity – which is being provided for an initial intake of 24 personnel – spans “theoretical, practical and on-the-job training” on the 737NG airliner, from which the P-8A is derived.
Delivered in Antalya, Turkey, the practical training phase covers “hands-on experience and qualifications in line maintenance” while supporting daily operations of 737-800s flown by Turkish leisure airline SunExpress – a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines.
“Several subgroups have completed their practical training [and] the first on-the-job training courses at Lufthansa Technik Budapest have already begun,” Lufthansa Technik said on 2 May. This phase was launched for the first German navy maintainers in late January, it adds.
“Navy personnel acquire the necessary qualifications for more complex work steps, including the associated approval processes, for example for the repair and replacement of various sophisticated components and subsystems,” the company says.
“After this, only a difference course will be required to be allowed to maintain the P-8A Poseidon”, with this to “provide training in the components specific to the military type”.
“We provide the technicians of the German navy with all the necessary basics to quickly qualify for the P-8A as soon as the first aircraft arrives,” says Sascha Leitner, head of defence programmes at Lufthansa Technik. “As a proud part of the German P-8A industrial team, we want to contribute to making the introduction of the new maritime patrol aircraft as efficient as possible.”
Service entry for the German P-8A fleet is scheduled during 2025, with the type to replace aged Lockheed Martin P-3C Orions. Berlin has ordered eight examples of the Poseidon, with the fleet to operate from Nordholz air base.
“With the transition from the P-3C Orion to the P-8A Poseidon, we are taking a huge technological step,” notes Frigate Captain Alexander von Schledorn, the officer responsible for overseeing technical personnel training.
