Saab 340 MSA

By the early 2010s the Saab 340 was no longer in production, but hundreds of examples were still flying with regional airlines around the world. Saab saw an opportunity in that fleet: turning second-hand airframes into maritime surveillance aircraft that were cheap to buy and to operate. The result was the 340 MSA, which the company spelled out as Maritime Security Aircraft. According to Naval Technology, Saab rolled the aircraft out in June 2012 and first displayed it at Aerospace Forum Sweden in Linköping; the Spanish-language Wikipedia places its presentation at the end of May that year. On 9 July 2012 the company formally unveiled it at the Farnborough International Airshow, where it sat on static display as part of Saab's airborne surveillance family. The same year it travelled to the Africa Aerospace and Defence exhibition in South Africa, and in November 2013 its capabilities were demonstrated at the Dubai Airshow.

The demonstrator was a 340B Plus. Saab did not pitch it as a new aircraft: the airframes were second-hand, but the factory refurbished them to an as-new standard and offered at least the industry-standard 12-month warranty. The company reckoned that, used according to the manuals, the aircraft could serve for at least 30 more years; by 2014 its South African subsidiary spoke of a 40-year life in the demanding role of low-level flying over the sea.

The heart of the system was the Telephonics 1700B maritime surveillance radar, giving 360-degree coverage to detect, track and identify surface contacts, paired with a retractable electro-optical/infrared turret (a Flir StarSaphire HD). The fit was completed by a Saab R4 automatic identification system transponder, a V/UHF direction finder that listens for Cospas-Sarsat distress beacons and triangulates survivors' positions, satellite voice and data communications and multi-band tactical radios. A side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) and a UV/IR line scanner for pollution detection were offered as options. A mission management system merged every sensor onto two large screens: an electronic chart showing the aircraft's track and ships plotted from their automatic identification signals, and a tactical display of radar targets from which the operator could cue the turret with a click.

The baseline configuration had a single operator console, but the airliner cabin had room for more stations, stretchers for medical evacuation or seating to carry government or police personnel. The search-and-rescue package added a rear hatch that opens in flight to drop liferafts, large observation windows with swivelling seats, and an internal auxiliary fuel tank.

According to Naval Technology, the 340 MSA could cruise at 265 knots (491 km/h) and patrol at 140 knots (259 km/h), with a maximum range of 1,715 nautical miles (3,176 km), a take-off distance of 1,350 m and a ceiling of 7,620 m, climbing to about three kilometres in five minutes. Patrolling 200 nautical miles (370 km) from base, at the edge of an exclusive economic zone, it could stay on station for 5.4 hours; with the auxiliary tank total endurance reached nine hours.

The English-language Wikipedia describes an aircraft also able to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare and signals intelligence, but Saab's spokesmen placed it in a different class: in 2014 Saab South Africa's president, Magnus Lewis-Olsson, stressed that a maritime surveillance aircraft watches the surface and is unarmed, unlike a patrol aircraft that drops sonobuoys and carries torpedoes. His argument was price: AIN compared it with the cost of a King Air, and the Spanish-language Wikipedia put it at around 20 million dollars. In June 2014 the head of Saab Singapore, Anders Dahl, reported talks with several nations and growing demand in South-East Asia, and that same month Saab offered the South African Air Force a baseline aircraft in the country within six months of contract signature.

The material consulted documents the demonstrator and the offers, but no customer or series delivery. It should not be confused with the 340B Plus SAR-200 of the Japan Coast Guard, an earlier configuration, or with the 340B ISR, a single aircraft that served as the platform's testbed.