The cockpit includes: the forward observer station, the cockpit, the tactical section (radio navigator, passive electronic interception system (ESM) operator, magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) operator, multifunctional tactical coordinator (TACCO) and radar operator stations and the acoustic detection station (DSM)), the rest station and the rear observation stations.
Thanks to its large bomb bay, its four under-wing attachment points, its buoy and marker baskets, the ATL2 can carry a wide variety of loads intended for search and attack targets (torpedoes, sonobuoys, markers, smoke, Exocet AM 39 missiles, 250 kg mines, grenades, bombs or even SAR containers).
The first production aircraft made its first flight on October 19, 1988, it was officially delivered on May 25, 1989 and handed over to the French Navy in October 1989. After military evaluation, it was put into service in February 1991 with two other aircraft to form the first element of an operational fleet.
With more than one million flight hours in thirty years of operational service, the Atlantique 2 has become the most formidable maritime patrol vessel in the world.