KUALA LUMPUR: Several countries' armed forces, particularly in the Middle East and Far East regions, where the civil ATR regional turboprop is present, have expressed interest in the ATR 72 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA), according to a spokesperson of the global industrial group, Leonardo SpA.
Leonardo is an Italy-based group that builds technological capabilities in aerospace, defence and security.
"The civil/commercial origin provides low life-cycle costs, synergies in training processes and prompt assistance by numerous logistic centres in all geographical areas," the spokesperson said.
The Defence Ministry signed a contract with Leonardo in May for the acquisition of two ATR 72 MPA platforms and related integrated logistic support and training services.
The ATR 72 MPA is a twin-turboprop aircraft designed for complex maritime patrol missions, while retaining the reliability, maintainability, low lifecycle costs and comfort features of the regional civil aircraft ATR 72-600.
It is part of a wide range of types developed by Leonardo for tasks 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 ATR 72 MPA can provide maritime patrolling, electronic intelligence gathering, sea surface and submerged target detection and tracking, SAR, countering illegal activities (drug trafficking, piracy and smuggling) and protecting territorial waters. Leonardo also sees growth potential for it to evolve into a fully-fledged ASW and AsuW platform.
It is also equipped with a flexible mission system, advanced sensors and a complete communications suite transforming it into an effective platform for command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) missions over land and sea.
Variants of the ATR 72 MPA, in service with military and law enforcement organisations, are mostly equipped with the modular Leonardo ATOS (Airborne Tactical Observation and Surveillance) mission system, that manages on-board sensors, fusing the information gathered and presenting a comprehensive and continuously updated tactical picture to the mission system operators.
The Italian Air Force's P-72As, the name given to the ATR MPA by Leonardo, has operated four of such aircraft from Sigonella, Sicily, since 2016 and in 2017 for the security of the G7 summit in Taormina, Sicily, Italy.
Four ATR 72-600s in maritime patrol configuration have been ordered also by the Italian Guardia di Finanza - law enforcement agency with general jurisdiction upon the entire nation's coastal and international water – and are designated P-72B.
"For the Italian government bodies, ATR 72 MPA special mission aircraft became their "eyes" on the Mediterranean Sea, a highly geopolitically complex and traffic crowded area, that continuously requested extended patrolling operations. "Missions can persist for eight hours or more, with the mission system operator controlling all the main sensors in full confort.
"Thanks to its commercial origin, the ATR 72MPA delivers its crew levels of ergonomics that increase its efficiency and effectiveness during maritime patrol, search and identification missions or search and rescue operations," the company said.
Italian P-72 aircraft were also successfully re-rolled to support Covid-19 relief measures, transporting medical personnel, equipment and even patients in biocontainment stretchers.
Turkiye is a major user of ATR 72MPA aircraft, while the Pakistan Navy refurbished two ATR 72-500s into MPAs.