Pakistan Navy Inducts ATR-72 Maritime Patrol Aircraft, Sea King Helicopters

The Pakistan Navy (PN) inducted its first ATR-72-based Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) and two refurbished, ex-Royal Navy Westland Sea King (one HAR3A and one HC4) naval helicopters on Wednesday.

The HAR3A was configured for search-and-rescue (SAR) operations and the HC4 will serve as a troop carrier, Quwa reported Friday.

The ATR-72 MPA delivered to the PN by Rheinland Air Service in Q2 2018 implemented subsystem integration work, which included a Star SAFIRE III electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) turret, an Elettronica Electronic Support Measures (ESM) suite and Leonardo Seaspray 7300E active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar.

These are tied together by the Aerodata AG AeroMission mission management system. The AeroMission can display feeds from each of the ATR-72’s sensors, such as the Leonardo 7300E AESA radar. It even has a sensor fusion algorithm, providing the onboard crew with comprehensive situational awareness.

The ATR-72 MPA can also deploy lightweight anti-submarine warfare (ASW) torpedoes, though it does not appear to have a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD). That said, the PN did announce plans for a new MPA to supplant its Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion fleet, the report further stated.