EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

In July 2015 the German Maritime Patrol P3C-Orion aircraft completed a three month detachment with Operation Atalanta off the coast of Somalia.

The Orion aircraft played a crucial role in the success of the European Union’s counter-piracy operation by acting as the ‘eyes in the sky’ to provide timely intelligence about patterns of life and any potential pirate activity along the Somali coastline and far out to sea.

With an air patrol and search area one and half times the size of Europe, the German aircraft and its crew flew more than 250 operational flying hours, averaging nine hours per flight.

The commanding officer of the P-3C Task Group, Commander Borman, praised the commitment from the German crew “I am very proud of my team.  As well as our highly-experienced crews who fly and operate the aircraft, the technicians who maintain the aircraft on the ground have shown outstanding commitment in what have been extreme climatic conditions and a relentless workload.”