• The DGA ordered five more Albatros aircraft from Dassault, completing a framework for 12 aircraft in all
• Albatros undertook its maiden flight in January 2025 and is now undergoing test and certification flights
• The maritime surveillance and intervention component of a navy has proven more significant in recent weeks following the violation of Estonian and Polish airspace

The French Armaments Agency (DGA) ordered five Dassault Falcon LXS Albatros maritime surveillance and intervention aircraft from Dassault, according to a DGA statement on 1 October 2025.

This completes a framework contract for 12 Albatros aircraft for the French Navy, seven of which were initially procured in December 2020.

These units come under France’s maritime surveillance and intervention aircraft (AVSIMAR) programme, which aims for the renewal and strengthening of the naval aviation arm of the service dedicated to maritime defence of the territory and state action at sea.

This particular component of a military has proven more significant in recent weeks following the violation of Estonian airspace, in which three Russian Foxhound jets flew over the island of Vaindloo in a 12-minute escapade on 19 September.

In a similar role, Italy’s CAEW aircraft, forward deployed to Estonia’s Ämari Air Base, fed real-time intelligence about the entry of a number of drones into Polish airspace on the night of 9-10 September.

France’s 12 Albatros aircraft will replace eight Falcon 50 M and five Falcon 200 Guardian aircraft, respectively based in Morbihan and the Pacific. Their withdrawal from service began earlier this year.

The Albatros fleet, meanwhile, will take on surveillance and protection missions, but also to support people in the event of a natural disaster. The aircraft will have a range of ten to 30% greater that the extant fleet.

These new units are equipped with a satellite communications capability, a search and rescue beacon detector, a lifeboat release system, and asmoke markers for sea rescue missions. The main sensors – Thales SearchMaster X-band active array maritime surveillance radar (AESA) and Safran Euroflir 410 optronic pod – will be managed by a mission system developed by Naval Group.

Albatros first took its maiden flight in January 2025 and is now undergoing test and certification flights conducted with the contribution of the DGA Flight Test Centre at the Istres site, with the aim of achieving initial opertaional capability at the end of 2026.

The latest order for the militarisation of the Falcon LXS base model is said to secure 100 jobs at Dassault.