Rain of news in the aerospace field; great visibility for Leonardo, enthusiasm for the Gcap program. Boeing forecasts: aviation will grow by 50% in the next twenty years.
The 78th Farnborough International Aerospace Show (east of London) was a special edition: many drones, the debut of the first Lba product (Leonardo-Baikar) and the celebration of the tri-national Gcap program for the sixth generation fighter, whose technological demonstrator is taking shape in England.
Leonardo’s CEO, Lorenzo Mariani, commented on the event by saying that it takes place in “a phase of profound transformation of the international scenario, which requires an increasingly solid, innovative and timely industrial response. Strengthening production capacity, supply chains, accelerating the development of new technologies and investing in skills are essential conditions to support the growth of the sector and respond to new security needs. Leonardo faces this challenge by combining the strengthening of its industrial base with increasingly stronger international cooperation”.
In fact, the largest Italian aerospace company returns to the biennial event in London with a very wide range of products, from the M345 and M346 trainers to the Eurofighter, up to participation in the Gcap, via remotely piloted systems, helicopters and anti-drone technologies.
The Lba Aystem joint venture, formed by Leonardo and the Turkish Baykar (also owner of Piaggio), officially presented the Astore Levante drone, a variant of the Baykar Tb-3 proposed for the needs of the European, NATO and Italian markets, produced at the Italian plant in Ronchi dei Legionari (Gorizia). It mounts Italian mission systems and sensors and can carry guided bombs of the Roketsan type, Bayakar mini Cruise Kew-M and other armaments.
At the Show there is a lot of optimism about the Gcap program: as announced by Panorama on Monday 20 July, Canada officially entered the program as an observer country and the financing of Edgewing which received the contracts for the definition of the technological demonstrator, agreements which cover the activities of the next 18 months and are worth approximately five billion euros. If everything goes smoothly we will see the successor to the Eurofighter flying by 2028.
Drones dominate the Show, we said, and are the realization of the industrial consequences and political choices resulting from the war between Russia and Ukraine. Everyone wants gregarious drones for fighters: the French dust off the Neuron; the British show the Storm Fighter, the Americans show the Boeing Ghost Bat. Moreover, Leonardo, together with Baikar, invited the specialized press to an event dedicated to the K-Swarm program, i.e. the in-flight testing activities carried out by an M346 and a pair of Kizilelma drones. It works like this: the pilot of the M-346 can give the formation primary commands and the two drones follow the leader, maneuvering autonomously.
On the same day, Leonardo and the Indonesian Pt-E System announced the signing of a contract for the supply to Indonesia of 12 M-346F “Block 20” light multi-role aircraft. The contract, which follows the Letter of Intent announced in February, also includes maintenance, overhaul and training. Deliveries will take place in 2030.
On the so-called “flying taxi” front, Anduril and Archer brought the Thunder autonomously piloted tiltrotor to Farnborough, an object weighing between 4 and 6 tons powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system with several bays for payloads which can also be missiles such as the Hellfire air-to-ground missiles.
In the civil field, Boeing, Arbus and Embraer dominate, today the top three European manufacturers. The US giant and Smbc Aviation Capital have announced an order for one hundred aircraft of the 737 Max family and shown the forecast for the next twenty years: according to Boeing, global passenger traffic is destined to grow on average by 4% per year, therefore the number of aircraft entering service is destined to double by 2046. The numbers calculated by Airbus are also very similar, while the Brazilians of Embraer are experiencing a moment of great dynamism, scaling all the others builders.
Finally, small Italian companies are growing: Zoppas Industries, absolute global leader in the design of advanced solutions for electric heating, has acquired a share in the capital of the aeronautical engineering company (Easa Doa certified), Boggi Aeronautics. On a commercial level, the collaboration will open new markets internationally.
