French Navy Falcon 50M Triton maritime patrol aircraft deploys to Indo-Pacific.

The French Navy says a Falcon 50M Triton from Flottille 25F is operating in the Asia Pacific under Mission Himantura, after joining Exercise Sama Sama 25 in the Philippines from 6 to 17 October and then moving to Japan for Enforcement Coordination Cell duties out of MCAS Futenma. The deployment strengthens maritime surveillance and sanctions enforcement alongside U.S., Philippine, and Japanese partners, while signaling France’s steady presence in contested waters.

Paris confirmed on 24 October 2025 that a Falcon 50M Triton from Flottille 25F is on Indo Pacific tasking for Mission Himantura, with a stop at Exercise Sama Sama hosted by the Philippines and the United States earlier this month and a follow-on detachment to Okinawa for ECC coordination of United Nations sanctions monitoring against North Korea. French officials have used similar air detachments from MCAS Futenma in past ECC rotations, and this year’s Sama Sama ran 6 to 17 October with a larger allied slate and combined maritime security training. The Navy frames the move as routine yet purposeful, aimed at interoperability, lawful surveillance, and freedom of navigation in busy regional sea lanes.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

The Falcon 50M Triton carries a Thales Ocean Master 100 surface search radar operating in the I band for detection and classification of vessels, weather avoidance, and tactical mapping (Picture source: WikiCommons)

At the core of this posture, the French Armed Forces in French Polynesia (FAPF) deploy an air asset that progressively replaces the Falcon 200 Guardian for longer ranges and more demanding mission profiles. The presence of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) specialist on board during Sama Sama 25 facilitates procedure exchange and alignment of methods for countering threats at sea, within controlled Emissions Control (EMCON), and in support of a shared Recognized Maritime Picture/Common Operating Picture (RMP/COP). Training sorties include flights with senior Philippine observers, indicating practical cooperation focused on operational effects.

From a capability standpoint, the Falcon 50M Triton carries a Thales Ocean Master 100 surface search radar operating in the I band for detection and classification of vessels, weather avoidance, and tactical mapping. It is paired with an Euroflir 410 electro-optical turret that provides long-range stabilized day and night imaging for identification and evidence collection against illicit transfers. The aircraft delivers a radius of action roughly 27 percent greater than the Guardian, which widens Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) coverage and lowers refueling constraints across an area as large as Polynesia. These features place the platform at the level required for the Indo-Pacific, where airborne persistence and theatre depth matter for mission success.

This transition fits within the gradual ramp-up of 25F, engaged in recent weeks between Tahiti and Rapa Nui as a relay to the Gardian, and preparing for the future French coast guard aviation program AVSIMAR based on the Falcon 2000 Albatros. In the meantime, the 50M serves as an interim solution that combines a trijet airframe with a modernized mission deck and three operator consoles. The payload endurance balance suits multispectral profiles, including fisheries surveillance, search and rescue (SAR), fisheries policing, pollution monitoring, and discreet observation of points of interest along strategic sea lines of communication.

The Japanese phase from Futenma aligns with ECC cycles: patrol flights, track collection, detection of ship to ship illicit transfers, and contribution to target attribution with information shared to allied fusion centers. The UN framework provides the legal baseline, while the ECC supplies the method with air-sea coordination, common procedures, and dissemination to available surface units, including a French surveillance frigate also deployed within Himantura. The repetition of these deployments since 2019 at a steady tempo indicates sustained capacity to operate in the region.

On the tactical side, the 50M combines radar surveillance and electro-optical collection to build an evidence set feeding the RMP/COP: course, speed, abnormal behavior, and Automatic Identification System (AIS) emissions that are incomplete or inconsistent. The surface radar enables wide area initial detection; the Euroflir supports identification and records close interactions, including reading markings and characterizing deck cargo. The platform operates efficiently at medium altitude to optimize radar coverage, with brief descents for EO work, maintaining EMCON adapted to context. The data link architecture enables near real time dissemination to maritime centers, shortening the detect track intercept loop when allied surface units are on patrol.

Participation in Sama Sama offers an additional effect. By pooling procedures, 25F improves interoperability with littoral navies, the US Navy, the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF), and other partners engaged in regional stability. Surface warfare, humanitarian assistance, and SAR scenarios provide a neutral ground to test communications, rules of engagement, and multi sensor coordination. These drills, held close to friction points in the South China Sea, help prepare combined responses to real world incidents.

Mission Himantura reflects France’s Indo Pacific approach focused on an open and rules based maritime environment. The combination of multinational exercise, ECC tasking, and frigate patrols addresses gray zone activity through observation, attribution, and lawful constraint. It fits within a broader arrangement where Australia, Japan, the Philippines, the United States, and European partners share efforts to limit sanctions evasion and reduce impunity at sea. This continuity of action supports confidence among allied navies, feeds the French defense industrial and technological base (BITD) with operational feedback, and underlines that freedom of navigation is a collective good that requires sustained protection.