France has taken delivery of its first two Dassault Falcon 2000 LXS ALBATROS maritime surveillance and intervention aircraft, marking the beginning of the AVSIMAR fleet renewal for the Marine Nationale (French Navy). The aircraft were handed over by the Direction générale de l’armement (DGA) on 27 and 31 July 2026 and assigned to Flottille 24F at Naval Air Base Lann-Bihoué in Brittany.
The deliveries represent a significant step in replacing the French Navy’s ageing light maritime-patrol force, which has begun retiring from service. Under the programme, 12 ALBATROS aircraft produced by Dassault Aviation will replace 8 Falcon 50M aircraft based in Morbihan and 5 Falcon 200 GARDIAN aircraft operating in the Pacific.
AVSIMAR (Avions de Surveillance et d’Intervention Maritime) was initially launched through a 2020 contract for 7 aircraft, including ten years of integrated support, with an option for 5 more platforms. The additional 5 aircraft were subsequently ordered in September 2025, bringing the planned fleet to 12.
The first ALBATROS made its maiden flight on 24 January 2025. It then underwent flight-test and certification activity with the support of DGA Essais en vol at Istres, before being formally accepted by the DGA and transferred to Lann-Bihoué. At their new base, the 2 aircraft are entering military experimentation overseen by the Centre d’expérimentations pratiques et de réception de l’aéronautique navale (CEPA). This work is intended to prepare an initial operational capability, while allowing the Navy to refine operational procedures, mission-system use and support arrangements. The third aircraft is due for delivery by the end of 2026, with subsequent deliveries scheduled at a rate of two aircraft per year.
Derived from Dassault’s Falcon 2000 LXS business jet, the ALBATROS is designed for maritime surveillance, protection and intervention missions, as well as support to civilian populations following natural disasters. The programme’s logic is to field a more responsive aircraft for daily maritime-security tasks than the larger ATLANTIQUE 2, which French operators consider oversized for many routine missions.
The aircraft’s speed and endurance are intended to allow rapid access to distant operating areas and coverage of broad maritime zones. According to the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the Falcon 2000 LXS-based platform offers an operational radius 10–30% greater than that of France’s current maritime surveillance aircraft. The choice of a business-jet-derived platform also reflects a balance between operational reach, availability and operating cost. French operators have highlighted the transfer speed, high availability and lower operating costs of Dassault’s smaller maritime aircraft compared with the ATLANTIQUE 2.
The ALBATROS carries Thales’ SEARCHMASTER active electronically scanned-array maritime-surveillance radar, operating in X-band, alongside Safran’s EUROFLIR 410 electro-optical turret. Naval Group provides the mission system that integrates these principal sensors and supports exploitation of the tactical situation, slaved to a wider Thales equipment suite, including navigation, satellite-geolocation and anti-jamming systems designed to offer compatibility with the latest-standard ATLANTIQUE 2 fleet. The aircraft also has satellite communications, a search-and-rescue beacon detector, and systems to deploy life rafts and smoke markers. These features support the broad remit of French state action at sea, from maritime monitoring and protection to emergency response and rescue operations.
The twelve-aircraft AVSIMAR fleet is intended to cover all intervention missions and part of the surveillance requirement. A second programme phase envisages complementary assets (particularly unmanned systems) to meet 100% of France’s surveillance objectives.
That direction aligns with earlier Navy thinking: 12 aircraft were regarded as the minimum requirement, while 18 platforms had previously been described as the ideal fleet size. Long-endurance UAVs could provide persistent sensor coverage, leaving crewed ALBATROS aircraft for alert duties, complex intervention tasks and periods of high operational demand.
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