20 June 2019

Paris Air Show 2019: Diamond Aircraft launches new maritime surveillance variant

by Charles Forrester

Austria’s Diamond Aircraft unveiled a new maritime surveillance variant of its DA62 light utility twin prop aircraft at the Paris Air Show.

Designated the DA62-MSA, the new aircraft was developed in conjunction with Italy’s Leonardo, and features an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) suite utilising the Leonardo Airborne Tactical Observation and Surveillance (ATOS) mission system.

Leonardo and Diamond Aircraft teamed to launch a new maritime surveillance variant of the Diamond Aircraft DA62. (Leonardo)

The aircraft’s baseline sensor fit includes a Gabbiano Ultra-Light TS Radar and EO/IR turret. The Gabbiano radar allows the aircraft to undertake both land and maritime surveillance operations, including high-resolution ground mapping, ground moving target indication, and weather avoidance. The inputs from the system are sent to an operator’s ATOS touchscreen onboard the aircraft.

Additional sensor systems that can be incorporated onto the platform include Leonardo’s SAGE electronic support measures system for radio-frequency electronic intelligence gathering, and the Spider communications intelligence system for direction finding, interception, and geolocation of communications signals.

The aircraft has a maximum take-off weight of 2,300 kg, and an endurance of up to eight hours.

Diamond Aircraft’s Special Mission Aircraft Technical Sales Manager Michael Neufingerl told Jane’s that the company was targeting markets in Africa, Asia, and South America that were looking for cost-effective ISR systems.

With the bulk of the aircraft’s subsystems manufactured by Diamond, the company is also able to provide customers with a single point-of-contact, Neufingerl said. In doing so, the company is able to reduce the potential downtime of aircraft when servicing and repairs are needed by having fewer stakeholders in the aircraft’s systems.

The company is expecting to be able to supply the aircraft to the market from the end of 2019.

Austria’s Diamond Aircraft unveiled a new maritime surveillance variant of its DA62 light utility tw...

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