Textron Aviation Introduces Special-Mission Cessna Citation Longitude Maritime Patrol Aircraft

Textron Aviation says its recently introduced Cessna Citation Longitude maritime patrol aircraft is perfectly suited for surveillance over land and water, search and rescue, border patrol, and fishery monitoring. (Photo courtesy of Textron Aviation.)

Cessna parent company Textron Aviation recently introduced a maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) variant of its super-midsize Cessna Citation Longitude jet model. Textron says the jet’s special equipment, combined with its maximum airtime and flight range, make it ideally suited for surveillance over land and water, search and rescue, border patrol, fishery monitoring, and other missions. Textron offers other special-mission variants of its aircraft, as well, including the Cessna Caravan and Grand Caravan EX and Beechcraft King Air 360, the King Air 360ER, and the Baron G58.

“The Cessna Citation Longitude jet provides an excellent value for special-mission operations due to its acquisition cost and operation cost combined with excellent speed, range, and payload capacity,” says Textron Aviation Vice President, Special Mission Sales, Bob Gibbs. “Textron Aviation has developed and had certified factory provisions for various mission equipment supporting maritime patrol and surveillance missions, maximizing value for operations worldwide.”

The Longitude MPA

Textron introduced the 12-passenger Longitude business jet in 2012. The Longitude MPA comes configured with seven seats, a refreshment center, a lavatory, forward and aft storage, and optional mission consoles. Other special features include a transmissive belly radome for maritime radars, a beyond line of sight (BLOS) fairing for antennas up to 18 inches (45.72 centimeters), an electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor lift for sensors up to 20 in. (50.8 cm), and a dedicated special-missions electrical power bus. An option for Night Vision Goggle (NVG)-compatible lighting is also available.

The Longitude MPA is available with a variety of special features, such as a transmissive radome for maritime radars outside and mission consoles that operators can use to process data from sensors inside. (Photo courtesy of Textron Aviation.)

The aircraft has a maximum flight time of eight hours and a maximum range of 3,500 nautical miles (6,482 kilometers). Its maximum cruise speed is 483 KTAS (895 km/h), and its maximum operating altitude is 45,000 feet (13,716 meters). Other performance specs include a takeoff field length of 4,810 ft (1,466 m), a landing distance of 3,170 ft (966 m), and a maximum climb rate of 4,892 ft per minute (1,491 m per minute).

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Source: Textron Aviation