(NSI News Source Info) January 9, 2009: Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company, and the Direzione Generale Armamenti Aeronautici (General Management for Aeronautical Armaments) of the Italian Defence Ministry, have reached an agreement for the supply of four ATR72 Maritime Patrol aircraft. The medium-range, twin engine turbine airplanes will be delivered to the Italian Air Force starting from 2012, to be used for the maritime patrolling with mixed crews with the Italian Navy. 
An anti-submarine warfare (ASW) variant of the -500 (itself a version of the maritime patrol variant of the ATR 42-500) is also in production and has been selected by Turkish Navy and Italian Navy for ASW and anti-surface warfare (ASuW) duties. Ten aircraft will be delivered to the Turkish Navy beginning in 2010. Italy's order of four aircraft will begin deliveries in 2012. For ASW and ASuW missions, the aircraft will be armed with a pod-mounted machine gun, light-weight torpedoes, anti-surface missiles, and depth charges. They will also be equipped with the AMASCOS (Airborne Maritime Situation and Control System) maritime surveillance system of Thales, as well as electronic warfare and reconnaissance systems, and will also be used for maritime search and rescue operations.
The aircraft is a version of the regional turboprop ATR72, developed ad-hoc by Alenia Aeronautica and offers a greater autonomy as compared to the ATR42MPs already in service with the Guardia di Finanza (Customs Police) and the Coast Guard, which have already in service 7 units for maritime patrol roles such as surveillance of national sea, maritime routes and economic exclusive zone patrol and to counter smuggling and clandestine immigration.
ItAF’s ATR72MPs will be equipped with the SELEX Galileo, a Finmeccanica company, ATOS mission system, which integrates the Seaspray, electronic-scan surveillance radar and the EOST, electro-optical multi-sensor turret, for the identification of boats and persons in any weather condition.
The aircraft will also be equipped with last-generation communication systems and, through a datalink system, will be able to transmit information in real time to the ground command and control centres and other platforms, both in flight and on sea, for the coordination and aximum effectiveness of the operations.
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