While France has yet to choose the airframe to provide this capability, potential contenders include the Dassault Falcon 10X and Airbus 320/321, Lieutenant Commander Maxence Combas – an MPA tactical co-ordinator, currently posted to the navy’s Maritime Surveillance and Intervention Patrol centre of excellence (CENTEX PATSIMAR) – confirmed to SAE Media Group’s Maritime Reconnaissance and Surveillance Technology conference, in London in late January:
“These aircraft are very different, but the product is the same. The future French MPA will be a multi-mission aircraft with a lot of capacity.”
Through the replacement MPA program (known in French as “PATMAR Futur”), the navy is looking to completely overhaul its aircraft and sensor capabilities, he added. The new platform will replace the in-service Dassault Atlantique Mk2 (ATL2) MPA, which is operational in two standards – Block V, and Block VI.
Alongside continued development of replacement plans, the ATL2’s own development is continuing in three ways, Lt Cdr Combas explained.
First, all Block V capabilities onboard the 18 in-service aircraft are set for upgrade to Block VI standard by 2025-26. This includes introducing a new generation of sensors.
Second, core capabilities across the overall ATL2 systems suite are being upgraded. Here, Lt Cdr Combas discussed several systems.
The electronic intelligence (ELINT) sensor fit within the Block VI standard is itself a legacy system, he noted, adding “we are working to change it”.
As regards the aircraft’s radar search capability – what Lt Cdr Combas referred to as “a cornerstone of maritime ISR” – the legacy Thomson-CSF DRAA-10C Iguane radar on the Block V needed replacing to provide improved mission capability integrated with improved human-machine interfacing, with these elements combining to generate automatic target tracking. Here, the Thales Searchmaster Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar is optimised for maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), with anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare modes bringing search ranges of 60 and 200 n miles, respectively.
Lt Cdr Combas noted that artificial intelligence (AI) options are being assessed to support Searchmaster in performing shorter, faster processing between detection and strike operations.
Electro-optical/infra-red (EO/IR) sensors play a crucial role in maritime intelligence gathering, Lt Cdr Combas continued. Here, the capability has been stepped up between the Block V and Block VI standards with a switch to the Wescam MX-20D EO/IR turret.
Third, the ATL2 Block VI standard aircraft is being used as a technology testbed for trialling and demonstrating capabilities and systems that could be downselected for the new MPA. “We have a chance to [work with] the ATL2 Block VI, where we can try some sensors to see what is good for the next generation,” said Lt Cdr Combas. “We are exploring various possibilities, using the ATL2 as a kind of testing laboratory for future MPA sensors and communications devices.”
Here, the navy is exploring the use of AI solutions for electronic warfare, acoustic warfare, and optical sensors, as well as radar systems. “Some projects are already well advanced, and should provide crews with information management and decision support tools,” said Lt Cdr Combas. The technical and tactical opportunities presented by AI are key to enabling the achievement of information superiority, he added.
There are wider challenges – for the navy, and the armed forces as a whole – to address when considering AI use, he continued. These include: building database storage and use capacity to capitalise on the improved information being gleaned from sensors; developing software to make it easier for the tactical co-ordinator to manage and conduct the mission; and improving connectivity.
The navy is also working on information connectivity to support crewed/uncrewed platform teaming between the ATL2 or the future MPA and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). ATL2 crews have extensive experience of working with UAVs for ISR and close air support missions, building complementary ways of co-operating, said Lt Cdr Combas. Here, he highlighted the role UAVs can play in providing sustained surveillance in contested environments where a robust surface-to-air threat is present. A challenge, though, is crewed/uncrewed platform connectivity, he said.
