The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) is to receive the first of two ATR 72 MPA platforms, ordered in a deal worth US$170 million, next year. Malaysia’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) had ordered the new-generation Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) at LIMA 2023. Malaysia had announced the selection of the type in October 2022.
Minister of Defense Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin recently visited Leonardo’s facilities in Turin, Italy to receive updates on the programme. He was accompanied by Commander of the Air Force, General Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Mohd Asghar Khan bin Goriman Khan TUDM. Malaysia’s MINDEF had stated that the first aircraft would be delivered by the end of 2026, with the second aircraft to be delivered early in 2027. The announcement related to the timely commencement of deliveries indicates that all is well with the programme that is expected to boost Malaysia’s maritime defence capabilities. “As a maritime nation, Malaysia must have assets like these aircraft to carry out patrols. They will be equipped with state-of-the-art systems. More importantly, the aircraft will be fitted with anti-submarine systems, enabling them to respond to related activities,” MINDEF stated.
The ATR 72 MPA is a twin-turboprop aircraft that can undertake a wide range of missions including maritime surveillance, Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti-Surface unit Warfare (AsuW), Search & Rescue (SAR), environmental monitoring, medical evacuation and transport of personnel and materials. The platform also has significant growth potential to evolve into a fully-fledged Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Anti-Surface unit Warfare (AsuW) platform. The ATR 72 MPA can also perform Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) gathering, sea surface and submerged target detection and tracking, SAR and be used for countering illegal activities (drug trafficking, piracy and smuggling).
The aircraft is a baseline commercial ATR 72-600, which will be modified to meet military standards and Leonardo will equip with a flexible mission system, advanced sensors and a complete communications suite for Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) missions over land and sea. The sensors and mission systems will be able to operate in stand-alone and net-centric modes, enabling the collection, processing and sharing of strategic data among operators, while providing complete situational awareness about the operational scenario. Key to the capability of the RMAF MPA’s will be Leonardo’s Airborne Tactical Observation and Surveillance (ATOS) mission system. On-board sensors include Leonardo’s Seaspray 7300E, part of the highly successful Seaspray Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar family and the. integrated acoustic sensor system Ultra-LIght SonicS Enhanced System (ULISSES). Other sensors integrated into the ATOS system include an electro-optical sensor turret with colour and monochrome cameras, electronic warfare sensors offering wideband electronic surveillance capability, an Automatic Identification System (AIS) and an Airborne Search and Rescue System Direction Finder (ASARS DF)
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