Germany's P-3C Orion reached Djibouti to support Operation Atalanta

On 11 March, Operation Atalanta’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA) capability was doubled with the arrival of the German P-3C aircraft in Djibouti. The German team join the Spanish P-3 Detachment already in situ, the European Union Naval Force announced today on its website.

The new German Detachment has come from their home-base in Nordholz, Germany and consists of 50 personnel, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Kai Hansen.

MPRA provides a maritime picture on the operational area and adjacent coastlines. The German Detachment is able to fly up to 15 missions each month and as the Spanish P-3 Detachment flies a similar number of missions this means that Operation Atalanta maintains an eye in the sky on an almost daily basis.

The picture provided by the MPRA teams give the Force Commander up to date awareness on what is happening at sea and along the coast. This allows decisions to be made to ensure Operation Atalanta’s mandate to deter and disrupt piracy is maintained.

The German Navy currently operates eight P-3C CUP+ maritime patrol aicraft, based at NAS Nordholz and run by the Marinefliegergeschwader 3 Graf Zeppelin.