Leonardo will be exhibiting at the 2017 Paris Air Show, which will be held at Le Bourget from 19 to 25th June. The company will be hosting a chalet (240, Row A) and participating in the static display (B6), showcasing its heritage and expertise in domains such as trainer aircraft, multi-role helicopters, drones, avionics and Space technologies.

A worldwide increase in the need for security, protection and prevention technologies, coupled with the aerospace, defence and security industry’s imperative for sustainable growth, requires agile responses from industry to new customer requirements. Leonardo is now able to offer a series of radically innovative services based on the integration of multiple platforms – from aircraft to drones, from sensors to command and control systems, digital technologies and Space assets.

Part of the show’s exhibition space will be dedicated to Leonardo’s family of training aircraft, designed to take a new generation of fighter pilots from basic to advanced proficiency, including Lead-In Fighter Training (LIFT). Leonardo’s focus at the show will be on its T-100, the company’s entry to the US Air Force’s T-X programme, the biggest competition in the history of training aircraft. The T-100 is based on the proven M-346, which has won numerous international competitions over the last ten years and is already in service with several countries. For the US competition, Leonardo has announced that the T-100 will be manufactured in the State of Alabama. Leonardo’s M-345, which has already been ordered by the Italian Air Force, and the fighter-attack (F/A) variant of the company’s M-346 will also be present at the show.

Another focus of Leonardo in Paris will be on the company’s latest offerings for surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence missions, spearheaded by a portfolio of fixed and rotary-wing Remotely-Piloted Air Systems (RPAS). This is an area where a significant increase in demand has been forecasted across the whole range of weight classes, from mini-micro and tactical up to MALE – Medium Altitude Long Endurance. Indeed, unmanned technologies and applications are key technological drivers behind the ongoing evolution of Leonardo, which is the only European company today able to design, manufacture and operate a complete RPAS system. The company’s capabilities cover the platform and its avionics, command and control, communications and data analysis and integration with satellite technologies, as well as the ability to offer end-to-end services based on the combination of these.

At Paris, visitors will be able to see the company’s remotely-piloted ‘Hero’ helicopter, which has been designed for border surveillance, monitoring of the environment and critical infrastructure and for the support of civil emergency response and protection, as well as the ‘Falco Evo’ fixed-wing RPAS, the most capable of the company’s Falco family in terms of payload capacity and endurance. Falco Evo has already been selected by international customers. Also on show for the first time will be the company’s new Mirach-40 aerial target drone, the latest in the company’s range of drones for the training of armed forces.

Because of the company’s extensive capabilities and investment in the field of unmanned aircraft, Leonardo has a leading role in various international collaboration programmes including the European MALE, nEUROn and the Anglo-French FCAS initiative.

With operational and technological know-how and expertise in the military and civilian helicopter sector, Leonardo has established a strong position in the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) market, offering a range of state-of-the-art products and solutions. At Paris Air Show, the company will be drawing attention to its AW169, a latest-generation multi-role helicopter that has seen significant commercial success with orders and options for over 160 units. For emergency medical operations, the AW169 offers unique features such as the widest cabin in its class, the ability to reconfigure the helicopter for specific mission requirements, ground-based power for medical equipment and air conditioning systems, on-board systems for flying in all-weather conditions and an advanced touch-screen cockpit.

A major European player in ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target, Acquisition and Reconnaissance) systems, Leonardo will be exhibiting avionics, surveillance, fire control and command and control systems which are already in-service aboard hundreds of platforms around the world. Amongst the products on show are the company’s surveillance radars; the new ‘Gabbiano TS Ultra-Light’, the ‘Osprey’ AESA radar which was recently chosen by the US Navy to equip its new MQ-8C Fire Scout drone and the ‘Seaspray 7000E’ radar, belonging to the family of AESA radar that has secured sales for more than 600 units. The company’s PicoSAR AESA surveillance radar can also be seen at the show on-board the French Army’s new Patroller drone. For fighter aircraft fire control, Leonardo will be exhibiting its Grifo-F radar, which has seen over 500 units delivered, and the Vixen AESA radar which was recently chosen by the US Navy for its test pilot school. Other notable exhibits include the company’s electronic countermeasures for protection from radar and infrared-guided threats, the BriteCloud expendable active decoy and the Miysis Directed InfraRed CounterMeasure (DIRCM), the Skyward-G infrared search and track (IRST) system and advanced Mode-5 Identification Friend/Foe (IFF) systems that help distinguish allied forces from potential threats during operations.

Le Bourget will also be an opportunity for a focus on the Space sector, in particular on innovative Earth observation and geo-information services for applications spanning from environmental monitoring to emergency and disaster management, from intelligence to maritime surveillance and to agriculture.

Among Leonardo’s major international collaborations is the Eurofighter Typhoon, the largest programme of industrial cooperation in Europe in which Leonardo plays a leading role, both in the manufacture of the aircraft and its equipment, including over 60% of on-board electronics. Le Bourget is also an important showcase for the company’s partnerships with other European players: in Space through joint ventures Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space, in missile technology through the MBDA consortium (Leonardo, Airbus and BAE Systems), with more than 90 armed forces customers in the world; and in regional turbo-prop aircraft through ATR (a 50/50 joint venture with Airbus), worldwide leader with more than 1,500 aircraft sold, that last May announced a preliminary agreement with Indian Airlines for the acquisition of 50 aircraft.