Textron Aviation announced on July 20 the development of a maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) derivative of its Cessna Model 700 Citation Longitude aircraft. To maximize value for operations worldwide, the business has also designed and verified factory provisions for various types of mission equipment to support maritime patrol and surveillance tasks.
The Citation Longitude MPA has an eight-hour maximum endurance and a maximum range of 3,500nm. It has a transmissive belly radome for marine radars, a beyond-line-of-sight fairing, an electro-optical/infrared sensor lift, and optional night-vision-goggle-compatible illumination. According to Textron, this adaptability makes it suitable for surveillance missions over land and water, such as border patrols and fisheries monitoring.
