TSAMTO, January 26. On January 20, the Directorate General for Armaments (DGA) of the Ministry of the Armed Forces of France announced the transfer to the command of the French Navy of the sixth Atlantic-2 maritime patrol aircraft, upgraded to the Standard-6 version.
As reported by TSAMTO, in October 2013, Dassault Aviation signed a contract with DGA to upgrade 15 of the 27 Atlantic-2 maritime patrol aircraft in service with the French Navy to the Standard-6 version. According to media reports, the contract value is estimated at 400 million euros. The works are carried out by Dassault Aviation, Thales, Naval Group and the state enterprise SIAe. Dassault Aviation is also responsible for the integration of all subsystems.
In accordance with the provisions of the "Law on Military Programs for 2019-2025", the number of modernized aircraft was increased to 18 units. At the same time, during 2019-2023, Dassault Aviation is to deliver seven modernized aircraft to the command of the French Navy (three of them will be upgraded with the participation of Sabena Technics). In parallel, the SIAe Aircraft Maintenance Center (Service industriel de l'aeronautique) is upgrading 11 aircraft.
Dassault Aviation handed over the first two upgraded aircraft to the French Navy in October 2019, one in 2020, one in February and one in June 2021.
The upgrade to the "Standard-6" version includes:
- a new radar with an active antenna array "Serchmaster" by Thales,
- Thales' new sonar subsystem for collecting and processing signals from the latest generation of sonar buoys dropped from the air to detect submarines,
- WESCAM's new MX-20 optoelectronic intelligence station,
- a new navigation console developed by Dassault Aviation,
- new consoles for the SIAe tactical information display subsystem.
The modernization of the aircraft will expand the capabilities of supporting the naval strategic forces (Force Oceanique Strategique - FOST) of the French Armed Forces, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier battle group, combating modern threats (promising nuclear or conventional submarines, etc.), as well as supporting air-ground operations. It is planned to remove the aircraft from service after 2030.
