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Leonardo: Falco Evo as the perfect solution for ISR mission
Leonardo, one of the largest companies in the European defense industry, is one of the main partners of the NATO Days and the Czech Air Force Days this year.
The C-27J Spartan aircraft and AW-109 and HH-139 helicopters can be seen in our event. The company also participated in the Eurofigher Typhoon aircraft program. In the Leonardo´s factory near Novarra one of the main highlights of this year's event was completed - the 5th generation F-35 fighter aircraft of the Italian Air Force. Leonardo also operates in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles, where it is the only European company which offers complete systems, among other UAVs the Falco EVO drone.
The Falco EVO is the advanced evolution of Leonardo's successful Falco remotely-piloted aircraft, with the two sharing the same airframe and control station. The drone, designed for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) roles, can fly for over 20 hours while carrying payloads up to 100 kg, including electro-optical sensors, radar and communications equipment. Its long endurance, ability to carry multiple different sensors and its high connectivity, allowing for the real time transfer of data and imagery, make the Falco EVO an effective solution for monitoring long stretches of sea or other terrain.
The Falco EVO benefits from low operating costs and is highly competitive in terms of technology, performance and on-site maintenance. This makes the Falco EVO a flexible and effective solution for surveillance missions compared to both manned aircraft and other remotely-piloted aircraft. Its ability to operate in dangerous areas and adverse environmental conditions any time, also make the Falco EVO a flexible and effective counterpart to manned aircraft, with which it can interoperate, as well as ground control stations and other remotely-piloted aircraft.
The system has been widely employed internationally: today more than 60 Falco-family aircraft are in operation worldwide. The drone was chosen by the United Nations in 2013 for a patrol service for the MONUSCO humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo and, as part of the Frontex mission's maritime surveillance test project, the Falco EVO supported missions in the Mediterranean in 2018, flying from the Lampedusa Air Base in Italy. Leonardo is among the first companies in the world to offer a service model for unmanned surveillance missions. This sees Leonardo carry out operations on behalf of customers, owning and operating the air systems and providing information directly to customers’ command and control centres. In order to deliver this model, Leonardo has been authorized as an Air Service Operator by Italy’s National Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC).
A global high-technology company in Aerospace, Defence and Security and Italy’s main industrial company, Leonardo is the only in Europe to provide complete “drone-based” systems, designing and developing all the elements (aircraft, radar and electro-optical sensors, mission systems and ground control stations) necessary for intelligence, surveillance, monitoring and information gathering missions. Leonardo is also part of major European collaborations in the unmanned sector. During the NATO Days, the company will exhibits in Ostravia a mockup of the Falco EVO RPAS.
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21st NATO Days in Ostrava & 12th Czech Air Force Days!
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