Leonardo unveils new design of uncrewed Proteus demonstrator

Leonardo, the Royal Navy (RN) and the UK’s Ministry of Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) team have unveiled the design for its Proteus technology demonstrator aircraft.

The £60 million uncrewed rotorcraft project will inform the RN’s Maritime Aviation Transformation (MATx) strategy and will be used to showcase advances in autonomy, payload modularity and interchangeability.

The contract was awarded to Leonardo in June 2022 and was originally unveiled at DSEI 2023.

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The newly unveiled design for the three-tonne unit has drawn on a “wide range” of Leonardo’s helicopter portfolio, and its Uncrewed Air Systems (UAS) programmes, according to the manufacturer – which helped lower development costs and accelerate the aircraft’s development. 

Its development will be broken into phases, emphasising “continuous collaboration and improvement” between the three teams, Leonardo added.

Furthermore, the Proteus design – with its modular payload bay – enables flexibility in mission roles, giving commanders a “wide range of options” from a single aircraft, allowing for a design that is both operationally and financially beneficial.

The manufacturer has developed a ‘digital twin’ of the Proteus technology using AI software, and is experimenting with additive manufacturing for use in the rotorcraft’s production.

Phil Bartlett, Head of Future Programmes at Leonardo Helicopters UK said: "Preparations are progressing at pace for the first flight later this year. We're pulling together a range of exciting new technologies for the Proteus demonstrator, so there's a lot to do and a lot of moving parts to get in place before that happens, but the team are highly motivated to deliver this key milestone and we're really seeing the benefits of our use of digital engineering techniques such as digital twinning."

Project Proteus is the RN and Leonardo’s collaborative effort to develop an uncrewed helicopter demonstrator that could serve as an alternative to crewed aircraft like the AW101 Merlin, particularly in anti-submarine warfare, resupply and medevac missions.

Shephard Defence Insight has noted a potential forecast that the RN may choose to acquire 37 units for $731 million across the next decade, should it wish to replace all or part of its Merlin fleet in the future.

Related Programmes in Defence Insight

Project Proteus [UK]

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Proteus