Today, the Malaysian Ministry of Defence officially inked a deal with Leonardo to deliver two ATR 72 MPA (Maritime Patrol Aircraft) units. The signing ceremony was held at LIMA 2023, a prominent maritime and defense exhibition in the Asia-Pacific region taking place in Langkawi, Malaysia.
This agreement ensues from the endorsement of Leonardo’s proposal declared last October and encompasses the provision of two ATR Special Mission aircraft configured for Maritime Patrol alongside integrated logistic support and training services.
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The ATR 72 MPA is a twin-turboprop aircraft crafted for intricate maritime patrol operations. It embodies the latest specialized version of the ATR regional transport aircraft, which is part of a diverse assortment developed by Leonardo for various missions, including maritime surveillance, Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti-Surface Warfare (AsuW), Search & Rescue (SAR), environmental monitoring, medical evacuation, and personnel and material transport.
The aircraft selected by Malaysia preserves the dependability, ease of maintenance, cost-effectiveness, and comfort attributes of the foundational ATR 72-600. Additionally, they will feature a versatile mission system, sophisticated sensors, and a comprehensive communications suite for Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) operations over land and sea. The sensors and mission systems are capable of functioning in both standalone and network-centric modes, facilitating the acquisition, processing, and dissemination of strategic information among operators while offering total situational awareness concerning the operational landscape. The ATR 72 MPA is optimized for maritime patrol, electronic intelligence (ELINT) collection, detecting and tracking surface and submerged targets, SAR, combating illegal acts (drug trafficking, piracy, and smuggling), and safeguarding territorial waters. It has the potential for transformation into a fully operational Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Anti-Surface Warfare (AsuW) platform.
Variants of the ATR 72 MPA, utilized by military and law enforcement agencies, are equipped with the modular Leonardo ATOS (Airborne Tactical Observation and Surveillance) mission system, which will also be incorporated into the Malaysian version.
The ATOS supervises the aircraft’s on-board sensors, merging the information collected and presenting a detailed and continuously updated tactical view to the operators of the mission system. With a proven commercial background, the ATR 72 MPA showcases an ergonomic design that enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of the crew during missions that can typically extend beyond 8 hours.
The ATR-based Special Mission aircraft are well-equipped to accommodate a broad spectrum of customer demands across the APAC region, with numerous local operators of the ATR regional turboprop already benefiting from extended logistics support.
Dario Marfè, SVP Aircraft Commercial & Customer Services at Leonardo, remarked: “We are honored that the Malaysian Government has opted for our ATR 72 MPA, an aircraft that highlights Leonardo’s cutting-edge technological expertise in the design and integration of platforms and systems at the highest standards. The ATR 72 MPA merges dependability and low operating costs, incorporating all the advantages of the ATR 72-600 regional passenger transport aircraft, along with a state-of-the-art Leonardo mission system. It stands in the market as a highly effective solution for the security and defense of its clients.”
The ATR 72 MPA comes fitted with an extensive array of advanced electronic systems.
Leonardo’s ATOS (Airborne Tactical Observation and Surveillance) mission system serves as the operational core of the aircraft. This system integrates all the aircraft’s onboard sensors, collecting information and presenting it to the crew via an optimized human-machine interface (HMI), allowing for a comprehensive tactical view of all data collected from the onboard sensors. This capability provides the crew with exceptional situational awareness in the most complex scenarios, while minimizing operators’ workload and maximizing mission efficacy.
The onboard sensors include a world-class radar known as the Leonardo Seaspray 7300E, part of the highly acclaimed Seaspray Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar family. Developed in the UK, the latest V2 variant of the radar boasts advanced processor and receiver technology to meet the dynamic demands of the ISR mission set. A comprehensive suite of air, sea, and land surveillance modes will endow the ATR 72 MPA with enhanced multi-domain capabilities.
Through ATOS, the Seaspray 7300E V2 collaborates with the aircraft’s additional sensors to render it a fully-fledged ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance) platform. In addition to monitoring maritime zones, the ATR 72 MPA can observe the coastline from a considerable distance and, employing the radar’s synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) mode, create a detailed image of the coastline.
Facilitating anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-surface warfare (AsuW) missions, the ATR 72 MPA will also house the ULISSES (Ultra-LIght SonicS Enhanced System), an integrated acoustic sensor suite designed to ‘listen’ for adversarial submarines and ascertain their positions. Similar to Seaspray, ULISSES will be integrated through ATOS to furnish the ATR 72 MPA crew with a holistic picture of the environment. Uniquely in the marketplace, ULISSES features ‘multistatic’ capability, which aggregates information from multiple sources to triangulate the position of potentially hostile undersea vessels.
Other sensors incorporated into the ATOS system comprise an electro-optical sensor turret equipped with both color and monochrome cameras, electronic warfare sensors that provide broad electronic surveillance capabilities, an Automatic Identification System (AIS), and an Airborne Search and Rescue System Direction Finder (ASARS DF).
With a high-performance mission system and cutting-edge sensors, the ATR 72 MPA is optimized to achieve objectives efficiently and effectively, leveraging its range and endurance capabilities to the fullest extent.
The interoperability of the ATR 72 MPA, with the associated Ground Station and cooperative assets, is assured by the complete Leonardo communication suite, which allows the system to share tactical data in real-time, disseminating information and intelligence in Line of Sight (V/UHF-HF-WBDL) and Beyond Line of Sight (SATCOM) contexts.
