UAV Leonardo unveils unmanned air system, opens new facility in Pisa

Local and national representatives attended an official ceremony in Pisa, at which Leonardo officially opened its new facility. Also, a first pre-production aircraft was formally unveiled during the ceremony.

Alessandro Profumo, CEO of Leonardo said: “I am very pleased to open this new facility because it demonstrates Leonardo’s way forward: we invest in high-end technology and highly-skilled resources to respond to a fast-growing market. Unmanned systems are among the pillars of our growth strategy, and we plan to become a market leader in this field.”

This latest opening underlines Leonardo´s ambition to grow in the region. In Tuscany, Leonardo currently manufactures products for defence, security and space customers. In total, 1800 employees are working at three facilities.

At the new Pisa facility, 60 people will be working. This workforce enables Leonardo to produce and furthermore develop its latest Unmanned Air System, AWHERO. This project was initially launched back in 2012 by Sistemi Dinamici S.p.A. and was then acquired by Leonardo three years ago.

AWHERO is a crewless helicopter, which was designed for land and naval operations. The vehicle can perform tasks and missions in the maritime and border surveillance, pipeline and powerline monitoring or homeland security.

Up to six hours is the maximum endurance of the AWHERO, enabling operators to fly the aircraft with low operational costs. To optimise operations, the AWHERO can transport payload as well. According to Leonardo, a payload may include radar, electro-optics, Electronic Support Measures and other communication systems.

The AWHERO can be piloted remotely. In the field of unmanned systems, Leonardo is being considered as one of the leading companies. Currently, the manufacturer is developing its Flaco, Sky-Y and SW-4 Solo vehicles. Leonardo is furthermore the only European manufacturer that can provide unmanned solutions for ISTAR missions.