A leader in the design and supply of systems and products for naval defence and maritime and coastal surveillance, Leonardo is able to equip all classes of ships with the latest technology. Over the last 60 years, more than 70 naval forces around the world have chosen Leonardo to equip more than 1.000 units, making the company the market reference for the integration of combat systems and the supply of latest-generation equipment for modern requirements.
OTO 127-64 LW Vulcano (Picture source: Leonardo)
Leonardo’s portfolio includes the production and integration of combat systems, naval combat management and communications, fire control radars, electro-optical sensors, latest-generation navigation systems, UAS, various calibre guns, missiles, torpedoes, sonars and electronic warfare sensors and suites. Leonardo also plays a leading role in the field of naval helicopters, with the widest and most modern range of products available on the market.
Black Scorpion small-size torpedo (Picture source: Leonardo)
Leonardo’s proven capabilities, along with its continuous development of new technologies, underpinned the company’s selection by the European Defense Agency (EDA) on a competitive basis to lead "OCEAN2020", the first military research project on maritime surveillance. The team, led by Leonardo, comprised 15 European countries and 43 institutional and industrial partners.
As part of the first OCEAN2020 demonstration at sea in 2019, nine uncrewed vehicles were operated, including Leonardo's uncrewed rotary-wing AW HERO and SW-4 SOLO. The latter was also employed during the second demo, held in August 2021 in the Baltic Sea, which saw 13 uncrewed systems, four naval units, a satellite and two command centres put through their paces.
AWHERO has a maximum gross weight of 205 kg and a useful payload of 85 kg (fuel plus payload) with a maximum endurance in excess of 6 hours. The aircraft is designed to deliver high maintainability and low operating costs, multiple redundancies of all main critical systems for maximum reliability. With a multiple payload capacity the AWHERO is able to meet a range of mission and customization requirements and is ready for maritime operations. Payload may include radar, such as the Leonardo Gabbiano Ultra Light, electro-optics, LiDAR, advanced communication systems among others.
AWHero Unmanned Helicopter (Picture source: Leonardo)
During the demo the SW-4 SOLO uncrewed rotorcraft, equipped with Leonardo’s multi-domain “Osprey 30” E-scan surveillance radar, demonstrated its operational flexibility in the maritime environment. Meanwhile, Leonardo's Combat Management System, able to integrate and coordinate the information coming from the SW-4 with ship-borne sensors in real time, ensured interoperability between the SW-4 and the naval assets in the field. The CMS’s high level of integration and automation reduces operator workload while ensuring full situational awareness, conferring the ability to react quickly in any scenario. The CMS is also integrated with many NATO tactical data links and command support systems, enabling the automatic coordination of weapons systems in terms of threat assessment, operation planning and control of armaments during combat.
Leonardo's Osprey 30 is a compact multi-domain ISR AESA Radar. AIMS-ISR supported operations include Maritime Surveillance modes, SAR mapping, Moving Target Indication (MTI), Air-to-Air surveillance, and much more – all while fully integrated with AIMS-ISR's intuitive moving maps & sensor control.
Osprey 30 Radar (Picture source: Leonardo)
Leonardo has also been contracted by Fincantieri to integrate its Combat Management System into the first two U212 Near Future Submarines being supplied to the Italian Navy. This is the first time that Leonardo has offered a combat management system for submarines, representing an expansion of its commercial offer and prospects in the company’s domestic and international markets. The CMS developed for this project will benefit, thanks to the synergies it shares with the systems already on board the Italian Navy’s surface ships, from continuous investment in the development and innovation of the product line.
Combat Management System (Picture source: Leonardo)
As the only company able to offer sensors, armaments and systems integration, Leonardo has seen commercial success in the naval field all over the world. In the United States Leonardo will provide the US Navy (which has chosen Leonardo helicopters for its pilot training) with critical hardware systems and life cycle support for the fleet's combat management system through its subsidiary DRS. Leonardo is also currently working with US-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to integrate its Seaspray 7500E V2 radar into the MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft, a platform that is already equipped with Leonardo's SAGE electronic surveillance system. The sensor will enable a persistent maritime intelligence and surveillance (ISR) capability. Leonardo's naval systems have also been selected by Canada and others international customers to equip their naval units.
