• Uncrewed Vehicles

  French battle lab ready to test Avatar mini-drone sharpshooter

  14th October 2022

  Experiments with Avatar are a chance for France to prepare for the certification of armed UAVs.

• Air Warfare

  MSPO 2022: Bidders emerge for Gryf programme

  13th September 2022

  Two contenders are confirmed for the Polish Gryf programme to acquire an optionally armed MALE UAS.

• Defence Helicopter

  Leonardo offers up four-point AW149 survivability plan to sweeten NMH bid

  2nd September 2022

  Leonardo hopes to persuade the UK MoD that a range of AW149 survivability-related items makes the helicopter the best fit for the New Medium Helicopter programme.

• Naval Warfare

  Podding along: Is the Royal Navy doing enough to move forward?

  1st November 2022

  At DSEI in 2021, Then Second Sea Lord VAdm Nick Hine spoke of the importance of the Royal Navy thinking differently as he outlined the Navy PODS concept and said the service needed to further in its transformation. One year on, has that happened?

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  US Navy receives over 40 industry responses to FVL Maritime Strike RFI

  24th August 2022

  Industry interest in the US Navy's Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike programme has been overwhelming with more than 40 expressions of interest.

• Digital Battlespace

  Morocco to procure US ground C2 kit

  26th August 2022

  Morocco has requested to buy six Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio Systems from the US. The proposed deal would include associated equipment and support.

• Defence Helicopter

  Leonardo on verge of securing new Merlin and Wildcat helicopter exports

  5th August 2022

  Leonardo has said that it expects to finalise export contracts for both the AW101 and AW159 helicopters from new customers before the end of 2022.

• Training

  Sales opportunities for advanced trainer jets open up in Eastern Europe

  22nd August 2022

  Following the Polish Air Force acquisition of 48 KAI FA-50 jets, other countries including Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia could also opt for a single-type solution for advanced trainer/light attack requirements.

• Defence Helicopter

  MH-139 Grey Wolf helicopter enters US Air Force developmental testing

  24th August 2022

  The USAF has taken acceptance of four MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters for developmental testing following earlier trials after Military Flight Release.

• Land Warfare

  DVD 2022: K9A2 self-propelled howitzer makes European debut

  22nd September 2022

  The Hanwha K9A2 SPH made its European debut at the DVD event in Millbrook as the Team Thunder partners gear up for the future British Army Mobile Fires Platform (MFP) requirement.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Proteus contract puts Leonardo on course to develop UK uncrewed VTOL hub

  29th July 2022

  Leonardo has outlined ambitious plans for its Yeovil site as it looks to advance VTOL UAS manufacturing.

• Naval Warfare

  Philippines receives its first two Shaldag craft from Israel

  7th September 2022

  The first two of nine Shaldag fast attack craft have reached Philippine shores.

• Defence Helicopter

  Farnborough 2022: Leonardo to end AW149 Italian production and focus on UK, Polish needs

  19th July 2022

  Leonardo has outlined long-term AW149 helicopter production plans, which will see an end to production of the 8t aircraft at the manufacturer's Vergiate facility in Italy.

• Land Warfare

  British Army acquires system to protect troops against remotely-triggered bombs

  26th July 2022

  A Leonardo-led team will provide the British Army with new equipment that scans the airwaves for remote control signals that are attempting to detonate an explosive device and jams the transmissions.

• Air Warfare

  Farnborough 2022: Leonardo launches new helicopter anti-collision system

  19th July 2022

  Leonardo has launched a new anti-collision system for small and medium helicopters. The LOAM-V2 uses LADAR technology to detect the presence of obstacles and alert the flight crew.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - multirole

  MH-139 (UH-1N Huey Replacement)

  Other bidders included Sikorsky with HH-60U offer and Sierra Nevada with upgrading offer of UH-60As to UH-60L configuration.In February 2018, Leonardo filed a protest to ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  TH-73 Advanced Helicopter Training System - AHTS (TH-57 Replacement)

  Contenders for the competition included the Leonardo single engine TH-119 – a military variant of the AW119Kx – and Bell’s newly upgraded single engine 407GXi. ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  AW189 - Egypt

  Leonardo and Egypt have never officially confirmed the order and it was not mentioned by the manufacturer when it released full-year FY2019 financial results in ...

• Light attack

  M-346 Procurement (1-24) [Nigeria]

  Programme Background On 9 December 2023, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Chief of Air Staff Marshal Amao said the country expects delivery of 54 new ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Maritime Operations Helicopters

  The three maritime operations helicopters will be used for logistics and personnel transport, alongside transportation of PASKAL naval special forces in operations in the area. ...

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Project Proteus [UK]

  Project Proteus is an RN and Leonardo effort to design and develop an uncrewed helicopter demonstrator that could provide an innovative alternative to existing crewed ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Project Proteus [UK]

  Project Proteus is an RN and Leonardo effort to design and develop an uncrewed helicopter demonstrator that could provide an innovative alternative to existing crewed ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  New Exploration and Escort Helicopter (NEES) (Phase II) [Italy]

  Programme Background Phase I In 2017, the Italian government signed a contract with Leonardo to replace its fleet of AW129 Mangusta attack helicopters with the ...

• Tanks

  C1 Ariete Replacement [Italy]

  Programme Background Background Following nearly 20 years of service within the Italian Army, the C1 Ariete MBT is due for an upgrade or replacement. Suffering ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  NH90 TTH Qatar

  The NH90 helicopter programme is managed by NH Industries, a joint-venture owned by Airbus Helicopters (62.5%), Leonardo (32%), and Fokker (5.5%). In September 2019, Qatar ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AW139 [Greece]

  Programme Background Reportedly, during a December 2023 meeting of the Greek Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Hellenic Air Force (HAF) proposed the purchase of 14 ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AW139M (1-7) [Algeria]

  Programme Background In 2016, Leonardo partnered with the Algerian National Defence Ministry to establish a second international production line for AW139 helicopters. By March 2025, ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  New Medium Helicopter (NMH) [UK]

  Programme Background NMH Market Interest Day On 11 November 2021, the MoD communicated the requirements of the £1 billion ($1.34 billion) New Medium Helicopter (NMH) ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  NH90 NFH Qatar

  The NH90 helicopter programme is managed by NH Industries, a joint-venture owned by Airbus Helicopters (62.5%), Leonardo (32%), and Fokker (5.5%). In September 2019, Qatar ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Global Combat Air Programme [Italy]

  Programme Background Shephard notes that the Italian, British and Japanese components of GCAP are tracked in separate entries. Programme Timeline 2019: In September 2019, the UK and Italian ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Naval guns

  Leonardo 76/62 Sovraponte

  The 76/62 Sovraponte (Overdeck) is a medium-calibre gun developed by Leonardo that weighs 30% less than the legacy OTO 76/62 Super Rapid and does not penetrate below decks. ...

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  Rotorsim

  Rotorsim, the joint venture equally owned by Leonardo and CAE, provides training solutions on Leonardo Helicopters platforms through high-fidelity simulator systems. Rotorsim currently operates in ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Seaspray 7300E V2

  The Seaspray 7300E V2 radar is a maritime-focused multi-mode surveillance radar. The 7300E V2 uses composite electronic and mechanical scanning in a gimbal configuration with ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  AW129

  The AW129 is a tandem two-seat, twin-engine attack helicopter originally developed for the Italian Army and subsequently developed into a multirole combat platform for the ...

• Major networking projects

  MARS Communications Suite

  Leonardo has been contracted by South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) to supply a suite of communications systems for the UK RN's ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  IVCS

  The Integrated Voice Communications System (IVCS) is a shipboard communications system that combines naval telephones and intercom equipment into one system. It consists of terminals, ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  TH-119 (TH-73A Thrasher )

  The USN announced on 13 January 2020 that Leonardo had been awarded a $176.5 million contract for the production of 32 TH-119 helicopters in support of ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AW169M

  The AW169M is the customised military version of the multirole AW169. The 4.5t-class helicopter is designed to perform a range of light utility and armed ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AW139M

  As the military variant, the AW139M includes FLIR, self-protection equipment (including IR detection and countermeasures) and heavy-duty landing gear. The helicopter features a digital avionics ...

• Trainer

  M-346

  The M-346 is a Lead In Fighter Trainer (LIFT), developed by Alenia in partnership with Yakovlev as the Yak/AEM-130 before the partnership was disbanded. The first ...

• Model 323 Fire Attack

  The Model 323 is a belly tank/refill hose system for Leonardo AW119 helicopters.

• Land: battle management systems

  MFoCS

  Mounted Family of Computing Systems (MFoCS) is a modular family which is designed to integrate existing FBCB2, future JBC-P and WIN-T capability into a modular ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Proteus

  Proteus is a technology demonstrator that Leonardo is developing in collaboration with the UK MoD's Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S;) Future Capabilities Group and the ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  WAH-64 Apache

  The WAH-64/AH1 Apache is a variant of the Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow, developed and built by Leonardo from 1996 to meet British Army requirements. One ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  MCSP

  Merlin Capability Sustainment Programme (MCSP) was a contract awarded to Lockheed Martin UK – Integrated Systems in 2006 to ‘future-proof’ the RN’s Merlin Mk 1 ...