• Defence Notes

  Singapore Airshow 2018: Leonardo to deepen Asia-Pacific footprint

  12th February 2018

  Leonardo is planning a significant network expansion in the Asia-Pacific region, with the company expecting to increase the number of regional offices it has by …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Patroller to play key role in OCEAN2020

  13th February 2018

  Safran’s Patroller UAS will play a central role in the OCEAN2020 project being led by Leonardo. The European Defence Fund programme aims to develop a …

• Defence Helicopter

  AW609 in place for takeoff with UAE JAC

  7th February 2018

  The first military examples of the Leonardo AW609 tiltrotor are on course for delivery in 2019, Brig Gen Saeed Ali Al Ali, deputy cdr of …

• Defence Helicopter

  Leonardo files another lawsuit to halt US Army Lakota buy

  31st January 2018

  Airbus Helicopters is warning the Pentagon that its acquisition process is under attack by Italian defence company Leonardo.  The warning came after Leonardo filed another lawsuit …

• Defence Helicopter

  EO/IR special report: Promising outlook for Asia military helo market

  13th February 2018

  By virtue of spending estimates between now and 2027 the military EO/IR Asia-Pacific market is forecast to become the second biggest globally – behind North …

• Defence Helicopter

  CHF probes refuelling concept

  8th February 2018

  Lt Col Will Penkman, commanding officer of 846 Naval Air Squadron, said that the Royal Navy’s Commando Helicopter Force (CHF) would like to have an …

• Defence Notes

  Leonardo outlook sends shares into tailspin

  30th January 2018

  Shares in Italy's Leonardo, one of world's top ten defence companies, went into free fall on 30 January after the company presented a recovery plan …

• Military Logistics

  Singapore Airshow 2018: Dornier outfits 228 with medevac stretchers

  6th February 2018

  RUAG Aviation is outfitting its Dornier 228 with GVH Aerospace AeroStretcher Mk IV medevac stretchers, according to a press release at the sixth Singapore Airshow, being …

• Defence Helicopter

  The bell tolls for Philippine helicopter deal

  14th February 2018

  Bringing to an end one of the Philippines’ shortest ever military deals, the government has formally cancelled its contract for 16 Bell 412EPI helicopters for …

• Defence Helicopter

  Islamabad to modernise its army's fleet

  9th February 2018

  The Pakistan Army is soon to induct a small number of Russian Helicopters Mi-35Ms in the assault role and is in the process  of modernising …

• Naval Warfare

  Bahrain receives upgraded Al Manama ship

  25th January 2018

  Leonardo has delivered the first of six upgraded Al Manama naval vessels to the Royal Bahrain Naval Force, the company announced on 23 January. The …

• Naval Warfare

  Leonardo to lead OCEAN2020 project

  17th January 2018

  Leonardo has been awarded the tender for the European Defence Fund’s OCEAN2020 initiative, the company announced on 12 January. The project aims to use unmanned …

• Defence Helicopter

  Panama commissions new AW139s

  22nd January 2018

  The president of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, formally handed over to the country’s National Air Naval Service (SENAN) two new Leonardo Helicopters AW139Ms at the …

• Naval Warfare

  Bulgarian patrol ship programme stalled

  26th January 2018

  The Bulgarian Navy tender for the procurement of two multi-functional patrol ships has stalled after the nominated winner MTG Delfin unilaterally decided to withdraw from …

• Defence Notes

  Norway's wealth fund excludes nine groups from portfolio

  16th January 2018

  Norway's $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, has excluded nine groups, including the UK's military equipment maker BAE Systems, from its portfolio based …

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 ...