Diamond Aircraft Industries have unveiled a new version of their popular DA-62 aircraft outfitted with surveillance equipment. Diamond and the Leonardo Electronics company are debuting the new DA-62 Maritime Surveillance Aircraft or MSA at the Paris Airshow this week.
The aircraft includes the Leonardo Gabbiano Ultra-Light TS Radar and is integrated with the company’s Airborne Tactical Observation and Surveillance (ATOS) system. The aircraft is also fitted with a a High Definition Electro-optic (EO/IR) turret which will be fully integrated into the ATOS touch-screen display to allow the operator to follow and manage surveillance missions.
Senior vice-president of Leonardo Fabrizio Boggiani told media outlets that the new aircraft is being marketed towards countries that don’t have the budget to buy top-end surveillance aircraft but still have the requirements for border security that a marine surveillance aircraft provides.
CEO of Diamond Aircraft Liqun Zhang said “Diamond Aircraft is very proud to step into such an important strategic partnership with Leonardo to provide a cost-efficient high-performance maritime surveillance solution to the market. We all recognized the importance of such a capability and the high demand of many countries to protect their borders against illegal fishing and other criminal operations. This new airborne solution, based on our DA62 Special Mission Aircraft, will be available to the market by the end of the year, ready to deliver and provide security and surveillance tasks. During Paris Air Show 2019, Stand A6, the very first time Diamond will static display this configuration to the audience.”
Diamond has sold more than 110 twin engine special mission aircraft and more than 60 ATOS systems are installed by Leonardo on 10 different platforms. Current operators of these special mission aircraft include Italian and Australian customs police. The new MSA has an impressive endurance of 8 hours and a crew of up to four with a maximum take-off weight of 2,300kg.
