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domingo, 4 de marzo de 2018

Falco family looks the future as it cruises past 15,000 flying hours mark

-Leonardo’s Falco remotely-piloted air vehicles have logged more than 15,000 hours of operational flight time with  its five  international customers

-Falco can be procured outright or  can be operated as a service by  Leonardo, providing surveillance and reconnaisance data directly  to the customer

-The Falco family  continues to find success as it develops and expands,  with the newest Falco Evo model having seen its first delivery  to a customer towards the end of last  year 

–  Leonardo’s Falco family of  Remotely-Piloted Air Vehicles (RPAS) have together logged more than 15,000 hours of operational flight. The milestone was announced by the Company at UMEX, the United Arab Emirates’ specialist unmanned systems exhibition,  on the 25 February.  

Since its Maiden flight  in 2003, more than  50 Falco family RPAS have been brought  into operation around the world with five customers. While some users choose to operate the surveillance and intelligence-gathering platform independently, others opt for Leonardo to own and operate its  own Falco aircraft and provide surveillance data as an air service operator. This latter model is becoming increasingly popular, with a reference  customer for Leonardo being the United Nations. Here, Leonardo has flown Falco RPAS for thousands of hours over its first four years of support for the organisation’s humanitarian MONUSCO  mission.   

As the Falco continues  to evolve, the latest addition to the family, called the Falco Evo, is already proving to be a success, having  been selected by two customers in the Middle East and  Gulf region. The Falco Evo is the longest-endurance model in the family, offering customers more than 20 hours of flight time while carrying a payload of  up to 100 kg. Falco Evo is capable  of carrying a range of highly-capable Leonardo  sensors including the  company’s Osprey and Gabbiano  UL (Ultra Light) radars and customers can also choose to equip the platform with third-party sensors.

Leonardo is the only company in  Europe able to offer a  complete  end-to-end RPAS system including  its  sensors/comms,  mission  management systems and ground control stations.