Airbus secures contract to define France’s future maritime patrol aircraft
• The French Defence Procurement Agency (Direction Générale de l’Armement) has awarded Airbus Defence and Space a 24-month contract to conduct a risk-assessment study of France’s future maritime patrol aircraft program.
• The contract builds on the initial feasibility study launched at the end of 2022.
• The aim of the new definition study and risk-assessment contract is to prepare for the development and production launch of the maritime patrol aircraft programme at the end of 2026.
• The aircraft will be equipped with a full range of sensors specific to maritime patrol aircraft, to which Thales is a major contributor.
• Thales is a major contributor to the aircraft, including latest-generation radar with active antennas, an acoustic system using passive and active sonar buoys, electronic and electro-optical warfare systems, magnetic anomaly detection (MAD), and self-protection systems.
• The A321 MPA will benefit from Airbus’s extensive experience in converting commercial aircraft for military applications, notably with the A330 MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transport).
• Airbus has also successfully developed maritime patrol and surveillance variants of the P-3, C295, and CN235, with over 170 aircraft currently in service worldwide.
• Airbus has been awarded a two-year study contract to advance work on a maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) derivative of the A321XLR narrowbody for France, with service entry expected after 2030.
