Thales delivers first maritime surveillance aircraft to Turkey


Thales has delivered the first of three maritime surveillance aircraft under the Meltem II programme for Turkey. This aircraft will be operated by the Turkish Coast Guard from Izmir Air Base.

This is the first delivery of the maritime surveillance aircraft equipped with the Thales AMASCOS mission system, which will provide the Turkish Coast Guards with an enhanced capability to better monitor the Turkish Exclusive Economic Zone and Territorial Waters.

This maritime surveillance aircraft is designed to perform a broad spectrum of missions including:

- Surface Surveillance and Naval control, anti-drug and other types of smuggling operations, the prevention of illegal immigration and illicit fishing
- Maritime pollution surveillance, with the provision of enhanced evidence collection capabilities, essential to this kind of operation
- Search and rescue operations.

Thales is the prime contractor for the Meltem II programme, which calls for the delivery of six maritime patrol aircraft for the Turkish Navy and three maritime surveillance aircraft for the Turkish Coast Guard, all based on modified CASA CN-235 platforms. The programme also includes the provision of additional maritime patrol systems to the Turkish Navy, to be integrated on ATR 72 aircraft. All mission systems are based on Thales's AMASCOS solution (Airborne Maritime Situation & Control System).