Leonardo unveils its largest-ever drone, the Falco Xplorer, opening up new civil and military markets for the Company in the unmanned domain

- The latest addition to the successful Falco family of remotely-piloted air systems has a payload capacity of over 350kg and endurance in excess of 24 hours  

- The Falco Xplorer is readily exportable. It is also undergoing certification for flight in non-segregated airspace and will be targeted at civil as well as military customers  

- Profumo: “Leonardo invests continuously in new capabilities to ensure we position the right products in the right markets. The Falco Xplorer builds on our experience working with Falco family customers over a number of years. By understanding and being able to meet their needs, we expect to increase our share of the unmanned systems market”

Le Bourget (Paris), 17 June 2019 - Today, at an unveiling event at the Paris Air Show, Leonardo introduced its largest-ever Remotely-Piloted Air System (RPAS), the Falco Xplorer. Building on the success of the Company’s Falco family of tactical-class RPAS, the new drone features a payload capacity of 350kg, more than 24 hours flight time and a satellite communications capability for beyond-radio-line-of-sight operations, all within a 1.3 ton maximum take-off weight (MTOW). Everything is designed in-house by Leonardo, from the aircraft itself to the sensor suite, mission system and ground control station and the Falco Xplorer will be offered as both an integrated platform and as a fully-managed information-superiority service. In the latter model, Leonardo will operate the aircraft and its sensors and manage logistics to provide actionable information directly to the customer.   

“Leonardo invests continuously in new capabilities to ensure we position the right products in the right markets”, said Leonardo CEO Alessandro Profumo, who presented the Falco Xplorer at its unveiling. “The Falco Xplorer is designed to be extremely competitive in its category, building on the experience we’ve gained working with Falco family customers over a number of years and our Company’s strengths in the unmanned domain. By understanding and being able to meet our customers’ needs, we expect to increase our share of the unmanned systems market.”

The Falco Xplorer has been designed from the ground-up to access the widest possible market. It is undergoing certification for flight in non-segregated airspace, meaning Leonardo will be able to pitch it to civil customers such as coast guards and emergency responders as well as the military market. Because the Falco Xplorer system is entirely designed and manufactured in Europe, it is not subject to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) restrictions and its technical characteristics place it within the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) class II category. Together, these make the Falco Xplorer readily exportable around the world.

Following the unveiling, the new RPAS is expected to embark on its maiden flight in June from Trapani Airport in Italy. A series of trials will then take place throughout the year, capped off by a flight campaign with the platform’s fully-integrated sensor suite on-board. The RPAS could then be delivered to its launch customer as early as 2020. The drone will be certified according to NATO STANAG4671, meaning that it will be readily approved to fly for NATO countries.  

Leonardo  believes  that  an  unmanned capability  goes  beyond  the  aircraft,  so  the  baseline  ‘Block  10’ equipment  fit  for  the  new  RPAS  takes  advantage  of  Leonardo’s  worldclass  inhouse  electronics over portfolio  to  offer  a  comprehensive  Intelligence,  Surveillance  and  Reconnaissance  (ISR)  capability land  and  sea.  This  high  level  of  integration  has  a  dual  benefit  for  customers  who  will  be  able  to  acquire a  highly  capable  and  effective  system  at  a  competitive  price.  The  platform  will  come  equipped  with  a Gabbiano  T 80  surveillance  radar,  LEOSS  ele ctrooptical  turret,  SAGE  electronic  intelligence  (ELINT) system  and  an  automatic  identification  system  (AIS)  for  maritime  use.  The  sensors  will  be  integrated through  Leonardo’s  powerful  mission  management  system,  which  draws  on  the  Company’s  experience in both  the  manned  and  unmanned  domains  and  includes  protection  from  cyberattacks  as  standard under  the  Company’s  ‘secure  by  design’  philosophy.  Leonardo  can  also  flexibly  modify  the  sensor  suite inline  with  customer  requirements,  including  integrating  thi Control  Station (GCS) exploitation  tools,  enabling  the provides  mission rdparty  sensors. allows  operators  to  control  the  aircraft  a The  platform’s  Ground nd  its  sensors  and  incorporates  data dissemination of  useful  information  to  wider  C5I  systems.  It  also data  analysis,  mission  planning,  training  and  simulation  capabilities. 

The  new  platform  joins  Leonardo’s  successful  Falco  family  of  tactical  RPAS.  The  original  Falco  was chosen  by  five  nations,  while  its  successor,  the  Falco  EVO,  has  been  chosen  for  the United  Nations MONUSCO  humanitarian  mission  and  has  been  deployed  for  the  European  Union’s  Frontex surveillance  research  programme.  Today  more  than  50  Falco  family  RPAS  are  currently  engaged  on operations  around  the  world,  some  being  operated  by  customers directly  and  some  being  owned  and operated  by  Leonardo  on  behalf  of  customers  as  a  managed  service.