The French Navy will replace its ageing Atlantique 2 (ATL2) turboprops with a maritime patrol variant based on the Airbus A321XLR.
The information was revealed by French newspaper La Tribune, which attributed the choice to the aircraft’s greater interior space and range.
Airbus unveiled the A321 MPA at the Euronaval 2024 event in Paris in recent days, a more capable proposal than the previously presented A320 MPA.
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If the selection is confirmed, Airbus will have beaten Dassault Aviation, which proposed a variant of the Falcon 10X business jet.
The Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) launched the competition in December 2022 and sent applications to the two manufacturers.
The new maritime patrol aircraft is expected to enter service in the early 2030s and replace the old-school Atlantique 2s, which began operating in the 1990s as an upgrade of the Breguet Atlantic.
A competitor for Boeing’s P-8 Poseidon
A maritime patrol variant has long been a goal of Airbus, which tried to convince the French and German governments to choose it as a successor to the turboprops, but the German Navy ended up opting for Boeing’s P-8A Poseidon.
The US jet has dominated orders for new aircraft of the type in recent years, but a rival such as the A321 MPA, which is larger and has a longer range than the Boeing, could become an alternative for several countries.
The A321XLR is the longest-range narrow-body twin-engine jet in history, capable of flying 4,700 nm non-stop.
The aircraft made its first revenue flight on November 6 with launch customer Iberia.
