France has ordered two light intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft from Thales and Sabena Technics, the French defence procurement agency announced on 22 June.
The contract is said to be worth around EUR50 million, with the new ISR aircraft to be based on Beechcraft King Air 350 airframes. The first will be delivered in late 2018, and the second in 2019. Both will be fitted with satellite communications (SATCOM) equipment and will be able to carry electronic intelligence (ELINT) and imagery intelligence (IMINT) payloads.
Besides developing and fielding the aircraft, the contract also covers the development of a ground control station for mission planning, data transfer and intelligence processing.
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