AW609 ship trials took place in April. (Photo: Leonardo)
Leonardo announced on 25 June that it had successfully completed ship trials of its AW609 titlrotor aircraft and was assessing the results of the landing and looking to use that information to move onto the next phase of the trials.
The trial took place in early April and involved the Italian Navy’s ITS Cavour aircraft carrier which was operating 20nm at sea. The aircraft, C4 in the production programme, took off from Maristaer Grottaglie Naval Base and according to the company demonstrated its “its effective approach, stable deck landing, and touchdown capabilities”.
“Integral to the demonstration phase was an initial test campaign developed and executed in a full synthetic environment leveraging the AW609 development/engineering simulator located in Cascina Costa,” the company said.
The trials were supported by the use of a digital twin to provide a preliminary assessment of manoeuvres and activities which were then performed in the trial in an effort to support capability development, time reduction, safety and sustainability.
The company added: “[Under digital twin] deck landing and take-off procedures were performed in more than 15 different conditions (including wind conditions), featuring straight-in and lateral approach, vertical landing, vertical take-off, and lateral exit.”
Leonardo’s AW119T helicopter will be offered as a solution for the Flight School Next contract, an initiative which aims to overhaul the US Army’s Initial Entry Rotary Wing training.
While the F-35s will help strengthen Denmark’s NATO contribution, other equipment such as a maritime patrol aircraft and additional drones were listed to further boost its Arctic defence capabilities.
The OmniRaider uncrewed aerial system is described by Israel Aerospace Industries as an “Americanised” version of its ThunderB-NG vertical take-off and landing UAS of which there are hundreds in service.
The first live-fire demonstration of the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile Quad Launcher was tested against a ground vehicle, with further tests against a UAS target planned for the system next month.
The uncrewed UH-60L Black Hawk or U-Hawk is built around the company’s Matrix autonomy technology and, after less than a year of development, is expected to fly in 2026.
Gen Kenneth Wilsbach responded to questions about the US Air Force’s ongoing modernisation plans during his nomination hearing, emphasising the need for the current and future aerial refuelling platforms.
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