• Land Warfare

  QinetiQ awarded contract for further work on lasers, future systems and energy weapons

  6th May 2025

  Notable projects under the Weapons Sector Research Framework (WSRF) contract include the British Army determining the impact of a vehicle-mounted laser weapon on drones and testing a vehicle-mounted Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon (RFDEW).

• Air Warfare

  M-345 officially enters service as trainer for Italian Air Force

  13th June 2025

  The Leonardo M-345 High-Efficiency Trainer (HET) basic/advanced trainer is similar to the M-346, which is the second part of the Italian Air Force’s training system, but is a substantially smaller and less powerful aircraft.

• Air Warfare

  BAE Systems reveals new GCAP demonstrator design with plans to fly by 2027

  17th July 2025

  A key part in the trinational Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), this is the first crewed supersonic aircraft demonstrator to be built and developed in the UK in more than 40 years.

• Defence Notes

  New UK-EU defence pact misses concrete details despite ambitious “first step”

  20th May 2025

  Given the geopolitical gravity, analysts have said the defence and security agreement established falls short of what is needed for future UK-EU co-operation.

• Air Warfare

  Paris Air Show 2025: Airbus Helicopters unveils new crewed-uncrewed teaming solution

  12th June 2025

  The solution, named HTeaming, has already been tested in flight with a Spanish Navy H135 helicopter and an Airbus Flexrotor uncrewed aerial system (UAS).

• Air Warfare

  IDEX 2025: Edge Group expands aerospace portfolio with six new UAVs and collaboration agreements

  26th February 2025

  Edge Group’s international partnership collaboration included Letters of Intent (LoIs) and agreements with US firm Lockheed Martin and multinational aerospace, defence and security company, Leonardo.

• Air Warfare

  Turkey’s Baykar strengthens European links with Leonardo and Piaggio Aerospace deals

  3rd February 2025

  Recent collaborations with Italian aerospace and defence firms have bolstered Baykar’s links throughout Europe and strengthened its credibility as an important player on the continental stage.

• Air Warfare

  Collins prepares expansion of the US Navy/Marine Tactical Combat Training System Inc II

  14th April 2025

  The company has been negotiating the supply of TCTS II to US allies and partners.

• Naval Warfare

  Singapore christens first Victory-class multi-role combat vessel

  21st October 2025

  The new mothership’s modular design ensures it meets the navy’s needs for future situations in both war and peace.

• Air Warfare

  British Army seeks ACP to pair with Apache AH-64E helicopter

  13th August 2025

  The event notice to find this ACP solution will see a series of workshops run to assess problems sets for the wider Land Autonomous Collaborative Platform (LACP) programme.

• Air Warfare

  Airbus, Babcock and CAE partner for Poland helicopter training requirement

  19th May 2025

  Poland first issued a requirement for up to 24 helicopters and associated training systems in January 2024.

• Air Warfare

  UK Royal Navy's upgraded Commando Merlin helicopters achieve full operating capability

  30th January 2025

  A total of 19 Mk3 and six Mk3a Commando Merlin helicopters have now been upgraded to the Mk4/4a standard, with the work overseen by the procurement arm of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), Leonardo and the Royal Navy (RN).

• Air Warfare

  Poland reassesses equipment priorities as S-70i Black Hawk acquisition stopped

  9th June 2025

  The country first entered negotiations for the procurement of Black Hawk helicopters in 2023. Now, the reassessment marks a shift in the country’s military equipment and strategic needs in light of the Ukraine conflict.

• Air Warfare

  Japan targets T-4 replacement ahead of GCAP as pressure mounts to modernise pilot training

  6th June 2025

  The JASDF has been looking to replace its T-4 jet fighters amid concerns over training capacity and pilot readiness for fifth-gen fighters.

• Land Warfare

  Europe looks to solve tank procurement challenges with upgraded and new platforms

  28th August 2025

  The UK government in 2019 reflected a common attitude towards main battle tanks (MBTs) across Western Europe as it moved to reduce its fleet from 227 Challenger 2 vehicles to 148, which would be upgraded under a plan that eventually produced the Challenger 3. Now, however, there is an increased interest in platforms new, upgraded and planned across the continent.

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 - light/training

  SW4 Puszczyk Replacement [Poland]

  Programme Background  In 2002, Poland order 47 SW4 training helicopters from Italian manufacturer Leonardo; as of Spring 2025, the Ministry of Defence is looking to ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• 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. ...

• Laser-directed energy weapons

  Italian LDEW (Leonardo/MBDA)

  As announced in December 2024, Leonardo and MBDA are collaborating to produce a Fire Unit Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) for the Italian Navy. The ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Seaspray 7300E V2

  The Seaspray 7300E V2 radar is an airborne, maritime, multi-mode surveillance radar manufactured by Leonardo. It is designed for the detection of small maritime targets in ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  AW119Kx

  The AW119Kx is a light, single-engine multirole helicopter. Launched in October 2012, it is available in civil and military variants, with the military version designated AW119M. ...

• Model 323 Fire Attack

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

• 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 ...