Airforces

SURVEY European MPAs Part 1

56 // SEPTEMBER 2017 #354 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

M

In recent years, MPAs have

adapted to the demands of

overland missions. However,

platforms like this French

Navy Atlantique 2 still train

intensively for the high-end

anti-submarine warfare fi ght.^

Dassault Aviation

German Navy P-3C-IIs – former Royal

Netherlands Navy aircraft – operate

around the Horn of Africa on anti-

piracy missions. German Orions

began their fi rst overseas ops on July

5-6, 2008 with a fl ight over the Gulf

of Aden. PIZ Bundeswehr

ARITIME PATROL aircraft

(MPAs) are fixed-wing

assets, often in the

airliner class, equipped with

sensors and weapons. They

can operate for up to around

ten hours and are generally

tasked with three missions:

anti-submarine warfare (ASW),

anti-surface warfare (ASuW)

and search and rescue (SAR).

Russian surface and sub-

surface threats have traditionally

been the main focus of the MPA

communities of the European

NATO and Partnership for

Peace (PfP) air arms, which

are the focus of this survey.

More recently, tracking potential

terrorists and smugglers

have become increasingly

important tasks. While MPAs

are primarily intended to

protect sovereign waters and

territory, some European air

arms also – or alternatively –

operate unarmed maritime

surveillance aircraft (MSAs).

Keeping territorial waters free

of unwelcome intruders calls for

these aircraft to have modern

sensors. The most capable

radars, anti-shipping missiles and/

or ASW weapons (typically the

AGM-84 Harpoon and lightweight

torpedoes, respectively) are

necessary to protect high-value

assets, which might include nuclear

submarines and aircraft carriers.

Out-of-area operations are also

a feature of modern MPA fleets.

German P-3Cs have recently

deployed to Djibouti as part

of Operation Atalanta, a NATO

operation aimed at preventing

Somali pirates from hijacking

seafaring vessels in the region.

Both MPAs and MSAs can

downlink information to

ground stations, providing

commanders with situational

awareness over the sea.

Thanks to their long range,

MPAs have an important SAR

role, reconnoitring areas well

beyond the range of local SAR

assets. Once detected, they can

report a vessel’s location back

to base for local SAR agencies

to set up a rescue operation. At

the same time, the MPA or MSA

can drop life rafts and rations,

sometimes known as the SKAD

(Survival Kit Air Droppable),

to people in distress.

MPAs over land

Some air arms have modified

their MPAs to track terrorists over

land. With a lack of surveillance

aircraft over Afghanistan,

certain MPAs have had to fulfil

an intelligence, surveillance

and reconnaissance (ISR) role.

The French Navy’s Atlantique

2 is an example of an aircraft

that’s been upgraded with new

systems to monitor activities

over land as well as at sea.