Airbus signs new study contract to define France's future maritime patrol aircraft

The French Defence Procurement Agency (Direction Générale de l'Armement) has signed a contract with Airbus Defence and Space as prime contractor, in partnership with Thales, for a risk-assessment study of the future maritime patrol aircraft programme. This 24-month contract follows on from the architecture and feasibility study launched at the end of 2022.

“The A321 MPA (Maritime Patrol Aircraft) has all the assets to become a true flying frigate capable of responding to the wide range of missions entrusted to the French maritime patrol,” said Jean-Brice Dumont, Executive Vice President, Head of Air Power at Airbus Defence and Space. “Airbus offers a sovereign solution that provides the autonomy, availability and reliability required to contribute to the oceanic component of the nuclear deterrence.”

The aim of this 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. This study will enable the initial results of the architecture study to be taken further, in order to refine the economic and industrial conditions for carrying out the programme, to guide the technical choices of the systems to be integrated on the aircraft, and to carry out the first wind-tunnel tests.

The A321 MPA is a militarised version of the Airbus A321XLR, designed to meet all the operational requirements of the French Navy, mainly in anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare, from low to high intensity, as well as intelligence gathering. The aim is to have a new aircraft to replace the fleet of Atlantique 2 operated by the French Navy from the Lann-Bihoué (France) naval air base by the 2030-2040 timeframe.

The A321 MPA will have a long-range and high-manoeuvrability capability, including at low altitude. The aircraft will be equipped with a full range of sensors specific to maritime patrol aircraft, to which Thales is a major contributor: 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.

It will also carry communications systems, including satellite communications, as well as the weapons needed for anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare, including torpedoes and the future anti-ship missile (FMAN). The aircraft's large cargo bay and the open architecture of its mission system give it a great capacity to evolve throughout its lifecycle to meet the emergence of new threats.

The extraordinary success of the A320 Family - the world's best-selling single-aisle aircraft with more than 10,000 aircraft in service and more than 300 million flight hours - ensures that the A321 MPA has long proven availability, reliability and low maintenance costs.