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Proteus contract puts Leonardo on course to develop UK uncrewed VTOL hub

29th July 2022 - 15:30 GMT | by Tim Martin in Belfast

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Leonardo's rotary-wing AWHERO UAS undergoes checks ahead of OCEAN 2020 deployment (Photo: Leonardo)

Leonardo has outlined ambitious plans for its Yeovil site as it looks to advance VTOL UAS manufacturing.

After receiving a £60 million ($72.6 million) contract from the UK MoD’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) agency to design and manufacture a Proteus UAS prototype under Rotary Wing Uncrewed Air System (RWUAS) Capability Concept Demonstration (CCD) Phase 3, Leonardo plans to make its Yeovil production facility a new hub for uncrewed VTOL aircraft.

The four-year contract will see the manufacturer build a 2-3t demonstration aircraft with ‘modularity at its core’, said a Leonardo spokesperson, and sits as a key component of the UK RN’s Future Maritime Aviation Force (FMAF) vision, primarily addressing support for ASW operations.

‘The dual-use RWUAS air

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Tim Martin

Tim Martin is Air Editor for Shephard Media, based in Belfast.

Tim has experience writing …

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