On Wednesday 18 November 2015, a French Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance (MPRA) aircraft, the Falcon 50, joined Operation Atalanta off the coast of Somalia.
The French Air Detachment is based in Djibouti and is tasked with patrolling the coast of Somalia to provide an accurate, up to date picture of the region and assist with counter-piracy patrols.
The Commanding Officer of the French Detachment said; “The Falcon 50 is perfect for this type of operation, in that it is quick to react to a situation and has a highly-trained crew to analyze the information that it collects to support the EU’s counter-piracy mission.”