Breguet Atlantique
Overview
 
The Breguet Br.1150 Atlantic is a long-range reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance that is conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles or reconnaissance aircraft. Their roles are to collect imagery intelligence, signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence...

 aircraft, primarily designed for use over the sea. It is used in several NATO countries as a reconnaissance
Surveillance aircraft
A surveillance aircraft is an aircraft used for surveillance — collecting information over time. They are operated by military forces and other government agencies in roles such as intelligence gathering, battlefield surveillance, airspace surveillance, observation , border patrol and fishery...

 and patrol aircraft as well as anti-submarine aircraft. The Atlantic is also capable of carrying air-to-ground missiles. An updated version - the Atlantique 2 - was produced for the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

 in the 1980s.
In 1958 NATO produced a specification for a long range maritime patrol aircraft to replace the Lockheed Neptune, with Breguet's design, the Br 1150, chosen as the winner of the competition at the end of the year, and a multi-national consortium, Société d'Étude et de Construction de Breguet Atlantic (SECBAT) set up to develop and build the Atlantic.

The first prototype made its maiden flight at Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...

 on 21 October 1961, with the second prototype flying on 25 February 1962, followed by two pre-production aircraft, with a longer fuselage in February 1963 and September 1964.

The Atlantic is a twin-engined, mid-winged monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...

 with a "double-bubble" fuselage, with the upper lobe comprising a pressurised
Cabin pressurization
Cabin pressurization is the pumping of compressed air into an aircraft cabin to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for crew and passengers when flying at altitude.-Need for cabin pressurization:...

 crew compartment, and the lower lobe housing a 9 m (27 ft 6 in) long weapons bay, with sonobuoy
Sonobuoy
A sonobuoy is a relatively small expendable sonar system that is dropped/ejected from aircraft or ships conducting anti-submarine warfare or underwater acoustic research....

 tubes aft of the weapons bay.
 
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