Story ID: 332
Diamond Debuts New Multi-Purpose Surveillance Platform
By: Chris Pocock
Caption: The DA62 MPP has more cabin volume for surveillance than the existing DA42 MPP aircraft.
Word Count: 695
Making its airshow debut here, the Diamond Aircraft DA62 MPP (Multi-Purpose Platform) provides more cabin volume than the company’s previous offering for surveillance missions, the DA42 MPP. The attraction remains the low-cost of acquisition and operation of a twin-engine light aircraft, boosted now by Diamond’s recent commitment to offering turnkey solutions that include all the necessary communications and exploitation systems, including ground stations.

The Austrian company says that the DA62 is suitable for law enforcement operations, search and rescue missions, land and sea border surveillance, disaster management, infrastructure and environmental monitoring, airport landing systems calibration and more. Markus Fischer, Diamond’s sales director for special mission aircraft, said that the DA62 MPP ”challenges significantly heavier and far more expensive conventional turboprop aircraft.”

The fuselage accommodates two pilots plus two operators and plenty of cabin volume for mission equipment and gear. A stronger version of the company’s “Universal Nose” carries EO/IR turrets up to 20 inches and 100 kg (220 pounds) weight; the belly radome can accommodate radars weighing up to 50 kg (110 pounds); and a newly-designed satcom pod can house L-, Ku-, or Ka- band antennas.

Equipped with the same twin-turbocharged single-lever Fadec-controlled Austro Engine AE330 pistons as the DA42, the DA62 MPP burns globally available jet fuel and allows 10-hour non-stop missions with a total fuel consumption of only 7.4 U.S. gallons per hour at loiter speed. A specialized on-top exhaust system blends fresh air with engine exhaust and utilizes the cowling to provide shielding of exhaust noise and IR signatures. The MTOW is 5,071 pounds including a full fuel payload of 1,000 pounds (455 kg) for flight crew and mission equipment.

The DA62 first flew in 2012 and was certified by EASA in 2015 as an up-to-seven seat tourer. Although it was developed by Diamond Aircraft Austria, the DA62 will not be produced in Europe. This is the result of the sale last December to a Chinese investor of a 60 percent stake in the financially troubled Diamond Canada company. The deal included all rights to the DA62 (as well as to Diamond’s DA40 four-passenger single). Production and type-design responsibility is due to be transferred to Canada by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, Diamond (Static Display B6) has delivered over 100 DA42 MPPs to a variety of commercial operators and governments agencies worldwide. Last November, it launched a new version for coastal surveillance named the Pandion. “The concept is to provide a full maritime airborne solution to a fixed price against illegal fishery and anti-piracy,” explained Fischer. “Equipped with a lightweight search radar, an EO/IR turret, a beyond-line-of-sight commercial Satcom system and a mission management system, the Pandion can easily operate for up to 6 hours at a distance of 150 nautical miles from the coastline.”

One of Diamond’s key selling points for its MPPs is that they can be equipped with sensors that have been designed in-house. They may not be the most sophisticated available, but the company believes they are fit for purpose. For instance, the maritime radar for the Pandion that is named Neptun has a maximum range of 36 nautical miles. It includes a receiver for the maritime Automatic Identification System (AIS), and nautical charts can be overlaid on the radar data and/or EO/IR imagery. It therefore provides the onboard mission operators with a good situational overview of ship traffic.

Diamond has also designed a satellite communication system named Kopernikus that provides a permanent connection with decision-makers on the ground. It can use both the Inmarsat and Thuraya networks, and allows for working online, emailing, using VoIP, transmitting snapshots from the radar, or streaming live video from the camera.

The company began offering ground control stations (GCS) last year. These range from hand-held to container solutions, depending on the customers’ needs. But they can all handle live video transmission from the airborne platform via different datalinks, and can offer onward connectivity to higher headquarters.

“All of the GCS variants are intended to provide ground operators with 24/7 non-stress operations,” said Nikolaos Mavrikis, technical manager in the special mission department at Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH.