France Military, il Ministero delle Forze Armate ordinerà nuovi aerei da pattugliamento marittimo nel 2026 per 3 miliardi di euro.

In February, Airbus confirmed that its A321XLR aircraft had been selected by the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA) to replace the Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft used by the French Navy. It added that, to this end, a 24-month risk removal contract had been awarded to Airbus and Thales.

“The A321 MPA [Maritime Patrol Aircraft] project has all the assets to become a true flying frigate capable of responding to the wide variety of missions entrusted to maritime patrol. Airbus offers a sovereign solution that provides the autonomy, availability, and reliability required to contribute to the oceanic component of nuclear deterrence,” commented Jean-Brice Dumont, head of military aircraft and drone programs at the manufacturer.

The choice of the A321 MPA was made at the expense of a PATMAR version of the Falcon 10X, proposed by Dassault Aviation. According to explanations given at the 2024 Euronaval exhibition, the French Navy wanted to operate a maritime patrol aircraft with a large ammunition carrying capacity, such as MBDA’s future FMAN anti-ship missile, and capable of carrying a second crew for long-duration missions.

As a reminder, this “PATMAR futur” project was launched after the end of the Franco-German MAWS [Maritime Airborne Warfare System] project, with Berlin ultimately deciding to purchase P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft from Boeing. The latter was intended to replace the French Navy’s eighteen Atlantique 2 Standard 6 aircraft and the German Navy’s eight P-3C Orion aircraft.

In any case, the Ministry of the Armed Forces clearly intends to speed up the replacement of the Atlantique 2. Indeed, and this is a surprise in the 2026 finance bill, the Annual Performance Plan [PAP] for program 146 “Force Equipment” indicates that the “future PATMAR” will be launched next year, with nearly €3 billion in commitment authorizations. This sum does not take into account the investments required for the infrastructure necessary to implement these aircraft.

The PAP for program 146 specifies that “the order/delivery schedule for the future PATMAR operation will be refined when it is launched.”

The price of an A321XLR, without any special fittings, is around €80 million. Obviously, the PATMAR variant will be significantly more expensive.

If we take the example of the P-8A Poseidon [which costs just over $300 million], developed from the B-737 [which costs between $100 million and $120 million], it is possible that an A321XLR PATMAR could be three times more expensive than the civilian version [i.e., €240 million]. . The Ministry of Defense could therefore order between ten and twelve aircraft.