The Aviationist
DAVID CENCIOTTI
Leonardo is one of the world’s top ten players in Aerospace, Defense and Security. Let’s have a look at the status of its most important projects in the Aeronautics, Helicopters, Space and Electronics businesses.
Named after the Italian inventor Leonardo da Vinci (although some people know or still refer to it by its previous names, Finmeccanica, or Leonardo-Finmeccanica – the transitional name adopted as part of the restructuring process launched in 2016), Leonardo is a global company headquartered in Italy specialising in aerospace, defence and security.
With 49,000 employees and a yearly revenue of 13.8B Euro (in 2019), it is ranked 8th among the world’s largest defense contractors. The company operates across the globe, with an industrial presence in four domestic markets (Italy, UK, Poland and the U.S.) backed by an international commercial network in about 40 countries worldwide as well as a number of subsidiaries, strategic partnerships, and joint ventures.
Many types of military and commercial aircraft, helicopters, sensors and systems are designed, developed, manufactured or assembled by Leonardo and in use in about 150 countries: C-27J, M-346, AW.101, AW.109, AW.139, AW.169, ATR-42 and ATR-72, are just the names of the very well known ones. Among all the other things, Leonardo owns the 21% of Eurofighter GmbH (the multinational company that co-ordinates the design, production and upgrade of the Typhoon) and leads the Euroradar consortium responsible for developing the Captor-E radar. The company is also an industrial partner in the F-35 program with the responsibility for assembling all aircraft for the Italian and Dutch armed forces and the second source supplier for the whole wing sections (the central part of the fuselage with the wings) for all F-35 in production.
Being based in Italy, we have always kept a close eye on the main projects and activities of Leonardo and for this reason, today, The Aviationist is able to offer you a unique status update on the company’s most interesting programs and news in the fields of Aeronautics, Helicopters, Space and Electronics.
AERONAUTICS
Made so particular by the COVID-19 pandemics, 2020 has seen Leonardo pretty active in the Aeronautics business. As we have already reported in response to dramatic emergencies of the year, the C-27J Spartan began in January to support the population in Australia, hit by tremendous bushfires, flying in extreme conditions for the evacuation of populations and wildlife. Conceived as a robust, reliable and performing military tactical transport aircraft, suitable for the support and supply of troops on the battlefield in the most hostile operational scenarios, the C-27J Spartan revealed itself as an extremely versatile and effective aircraft as response to the health emergency, employed intensively by most its Air Forces operators to carry out delivery of materials and health equipment, urgent transport of personnel, up to the most complex medical transports also in bio-containment mode. Interestingly, some operators further extended the spectrum of missions the platform is able to carry out by adding the capability to airdrop air-sea rescue kits or fuel containers needed to install FARPs (Forward Arming and Refueling Points) in austere locations.
By the way, during the year we also got a glimpse at a pretty rare, special mission C-27J operated by the Italian Air Force in the EW (Electronic Warfare) role: the EC-27J JEDI.
A remarkable news came in November, when Leonardo announced that the C-27J Spartan Next Generation entered the final testing phase and was being prepared for delivery to an undisclosed customer in 2021. The improved aircraft features new equipment, avionics and aerodynamic devices, most notably new winglets, that are intended to boost even more the performance and reliability of the Spartan.
Another important update came from the trainers line of business.
After achieving the certification by the DAAA (Directorate for Air Armaments and Airworthiness), the certification Authority of the Italian Ministry of Defence, in May, the first two Leonardo’s new M-345 basic/advanced trainers were delivered to Italian Air Force in Decemeber. The Italian Air Force has ordered 18 M-345 aircraft, with plans to field up to 45 new aircraft, to replace the ageing MB-339 used for training and for the Frecce Tricolori display team.
The M-345 is the one of the major news on the market in this 2020: a new generation jet at the edge of its class in terms of performance, providing jet performance at turboprop costs. What makes the aircraft particularly interesting is also the training effectiveness coming from the experience the company and its customers have grown with the M-346 Master. As for its “big brother”, the M-345 is also part of a fully developed new generation training system that includes Embedded Tactical Training Simulation (ETTS) on board and a ground based training System up to Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) capability, that integrates the aircraft in-flight, simulators on ground and synthetic/virtual “friends” or “enemies” elements. LVC allows exposing the future pilot to the most complex operational scenarios at the lowest costs, and is today the element that draws a separating line between the future and the current generation training systems.
Jul. 13, 2020 is the day that marked the successful maiden flight for the M-346FA (Fighter Attack). Developed to meet the growing and diversified operational requirements of several air forces, the M-346FA keeps all the characteristics of the advanced trainer version, but it is also a light fighter aircraft able to carry out a wide range of operational missions at far lower costs than those of front-line fighters: from Air-to-Air [Air policing/homeland defence; Slow mover intercept (SMI)], to Air-to-Ground [Close Air Support (CAS); Counter Insurgency (COIN); Forward Air Controller – Airborne (FAC-A); Combat Search And Rescue (CSAR); Interdiction; Battlefield Air Interdiction (BAI); Tactical Air Support for Maritime Operations (TASMO)].
The aircraft is equipped with a Leonardo Electronics Division mechanically scanned multi-mode Grifo-M346 radar, specifically optimized for this aircraft, with Identification Friend or Foe (IFF), and protected by a complete self-protection system (DASS – Defensive Aids Sub-System), the M-346 benefits of a reduced radar cross-section and, according to Leonardo, can also have an additional “low observation” capability kit. M-346 FA will be handed over in 2021 to its first international customer.
The delivery in October of the final and most advanced Eurofighter Typhoon for the Italian Air Force, which completes the Eurofighter fleet as the main asset of a complex and diversified national and NATO air defence system, is a major programme milestone, closing a first chapter while the next one for the Eurocanard program was just kicking off: the “Quadriga” program in Germany. As part of the program, the German Air Force will replace older Eurofighters of Tranche 1, with so-called Tranche 4 aircraft. The new batch is expected to be divided in 31 single-seat and 7 two-seats aircraft. The new configuration will include the latest Phase 3 Enhancements (P3E) and the E-SCAN AESA radar, also known as European Common Radar System (ECRS). The German aircraft will be equipped with the ECRS Mk 1 variant, an improved version of the Mk 0 that is being produced for the Typhoons bought by Kuwait and Qatar. The same radar will be also retrofitted on the other 110 Eurofighter in the Luftwaffe’s inventory, of which 79 are from Tranche 2 and 31 from Tranche 3.
Through the Long Term Evolution plan, the partners will be able to will keep Eurofighter Typhoon at the leading edge of swing-role combat aircraft technology.
Last but not least, while the commercial aviation faces one of the most adverse periods of its history, on Dec. 15, 2020, the delivery of the first Purpose-Built Regional ATR Freighter, the first new ATR72-600F delivered to FedEx marks the arrival on the market of a versatile, technology advanced, fuel efficient aircraft, that according to the company “well fits in the changing of the market and the growth of e-commerce, to connect communities and economies around the world.”
The last achievement of the year is represented by the groundbreaking ceremony for the new International Flight Training School (IFTS), celebrated on Dec. 16, at Decimomannu Air Base, Sardinia, Italy. IFTS is the result of a strategic collaboration between the Italian Air Force and Leonardo, which is aimed at the establishment of an advanced flight-training centre.
This initiative is set to become an international benchmark for military pilots’ training, particularly in the advanced phase of training future fighter pilots: with the new Leonardo M-345, the Italian Air Force’s 61° Stormo (Wing) will gradually replace the T-339A and FT-339C (MB-339A and MB-339CD) fleets at Lecce Galatina AB, and the M-346-based advanced phase of the training syllabus will be progressively moved to the “Deci”.
HELICOPTERS
In 2020 Leonardo reported several important achievements in the military market and strengthened its global position growing its industrial capabilities as well as product and service perimeter.
Ahead of the pandemic, the Company was awarded by the US Department of Defence (DoD) a 176M USD contract for the supply of 32 TH-73A helicopters (based on the TH-119 IFR single engine) to meet the Navy Trainer requirement to train the next generators of naval aviators. Later in the year the DoD exercised options for an additional 36 units, valued at 171M USD. The programme, which has a total requirement for up to 130 units, marks the first time Leonardo is prime contractor for the US DoD in the rotorcraft domain and came less than a year and a half following the selection of the Boeing MH-139A Grey Wolf – based on the world-class AW139 – by the US DoD for the USAF…
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE… – The Aviationist
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